Dawn of a New Era: The Sacred Red Stone
by Shooting Star Sky Saint
Summary: Captain Roy Mustang and his crew are on a journey to find a legendary treasure but they aren't the only pirates that lust for the great riches. His one goal is to become the Pirate King. Ed as an infamous pirate! Human Al! Chimeras! Full summary inside!
1. Chapter 1

**Here it is! My 3****rd**** FMA fanfic! My first being ****Blood of the Beast,**** and my second being ****New Millennium. **** I've had this story in my head for a while now but never thought of how to actually write it down. In truth I got inspired by that show ****One Piece, ****its pretty good actually, and I had the funniest way of imaging Ed as a pirate. :D And I also saw a picture of how Ed looks as a pirate (Hiromu Arakawa drew it and he's so cute!) So without further ado…**

**A/N: I also somewhat mixed in something's from One Piece, just a heads up for all of you. Also there is some strong language ahead, just another heads up for all of you.**

**Summery: Pirates all over the globe set off to find a mystical treasure that once belonged to the legendary Pirate King. Captain Roy Mustang and his crew have journeyed the world searching for that treasure, but his journey is just beginning. He will face countless pirates who lust for that same goal, but what Captain Roy's real goal is to be the Pirate King. **

**Fullmetal Alchemist does not belong to me. It belongs to Hiromu Arakawa.**

Chapter 1/ Lost at Sea… Again

_The Philosopher's Stone. The crimson stone that is said to bring anyone wealth, power, and anything of a person's desires. The owner of this miraculous stone was a pirate by the name of Aarush Silverstar. No one knew where he had accommodated such a power and he himself would never tell anyone. Some say he forged it from a drop of blood that fell from the Heavens and some say he made a pact with the Devil and exchanged his soul. But no one knew. _

_ Aarush used the Stone's power to steal countless treasures across the world and even treasures from out of this world. He was bathed in gold from the soles of his feet to the top of his hat, that stone brought him everything he ever wanted: Money, fame, power, riches, women, you named it and he had it._

_ It was even said that Aarush used that mysterious power to bring back his crew members from the dead and make them stronger. Aarush was named many names: The Demon King, Forger of Souls, Death, and many more but the one that always came up when anyone mentioned his name was the Pirate King. Clearly a worthy name for his infamous life._

_ But soon his reign as the Pirate King ended when he was carelessly captured. His punishment was death. Before he was about to be decapitated he stated with a devilish smirk on his face, "The Stone and all my treasures? If you want them you can have them… but you'll have to find them first! I left everything in one place."_

_ And so ended the life of the Pirate King. But those last words set off something in the world… those words set off the 'Age of Pirates'. _

_ Pirates set off all over the world to find the treasure that could make their dreams become realty and now there is only one thing to say…_

"Where the fuck could that treasure be!" a raven haired middle aged man shouted in frustration as he yelled out to the deep blue ocean as if asking it a question. "The Hell! This is bullshit! Where on earth could it be!" Captain Roy Mustang looked down at the crumbled map that he crumpled in his frustration. "No… a better question would be, where the hell are we!"

"Calm down Captain or you're going to burst a blood vessel." Said First Mate Maes Hughes. "I can't calm down!" The Captain argued, the ship swayed over to the right a bit and caused the irritated captain's face to turn a furious red as he fell to the floor. His First Mate stood still and blank as if not affected by the swaying. He outstretched his hand to help his captain but as usual he rejected the hand and got up on his own.

"Ugh… damn it… Havoc! Can't you sail this thing right!" He shouted to his Sail Master when he stood up properly. Sailing Master Jean Havoc looked down at his steaming captain and chuckled with his cigar in his mouth, "Sorry Captain, I thought I saw something in the distance and got a little distracted."

"Ah, buts that's not your job now is it?" Roy mused sarcastically, "your job is to sail this god damn ship to its correct location." Havoc looked down at Roy and asked, "So then where is our correct location? Because all I see is ocean and sky."

"Well that's your job too! Your also a navigator!"

"Correct. But you're the one with the map." Havoc smiled, "And I can't tell where we are without that little paper in your hand but unfortunately we're probably way off course now so… in other words we're lost… again." Captain Mustang immediately starting spitting every curse word he could think of in every direction, Hughes just let his Captain have his moment. Its not like this hasn't happened before.

Havoc snickered at his frustrated Captain. "I have to admit for a Captain he sure has a short temper." He looked to the side of him to the young blond woman who sat down on the floor with scattered pieces of a gun.

"That's only because things don't go his way most of the time." Master Gunner Riza Hawkeye mused as she put back together her specialized gun. She sighed and pointed the gun into the endless distance. "And besides isn't that how a Captain is suppose to act." Havoc shrugged and continued steering.

"Looks like the Captain is whiled up again." Sighed Quarter Master Kain Fury. "When isn't he?" scoffed Vato Falman who was the Boatswain of the ship. "Oh come now, lets not talk about our captain in that kind of manor!" boomed a muscle man who stood over the two men, "He's trying his best to get us out of the blue oceanic maze, and we cooperate with him!"

"How do we cooperate with that?" sighed a tired Heymans Breda, he pointed to the furious Roy Mustang who was still yelling at the top of his lungs and saying every curse word known to man. The muscle man known as Alex Louis Armstrong sighed and said, "Maybe so, but…" In a not so surprising surprise Armstrong whipped off his shirt and revealed his unnatural muscles. He flexed them while the sparkles that showed up around him dazzled in beauty at his magnificent stature. "He is our captain and we are his crew!" he boomed as he flexed some more, "Even if he doesn't want help it is our duty to encourage him to find our way and find the treasure!" Falman, Fury, and Breda just stared at him with their usual expressions.

"Damn, the ocean is mocking me at this point!" roared Roy as he looked at the blue water with a hysterical look on his face. "It's probably laughing at me right now! Well when we find our way to shore, who will be laughing then? Who the fuck will be laughing then!" Captain Mustang burst out into an insane laugh.

Maes rubbed his forehead and shook his head shamelessly. "I think the heat might've gotten to you Captain." His never did know if Roy heard his claim, probably not though, his laughter out ruled every other sound around him.

Havoc dazed off into the distant blue again and blinked, a small red shape was coming their way. He took his hands off the wheel and rubbed his eyes, once he was done he looked again but this time the shape was even closer. Havoc squinted his eyes and tried to make out the red blur. What was it? It looked almost like a…

Havoc gasped in horror when he finally found out what the shape was. Oh hell no! He thought. "Captain we have a problem! There's a-"

A booming ear pitching sound pierced the air and interrupted Havoc's warning. What happened next only made things worse. Something impacted into their ship and sent it rocking from side to side but to the crew that was on board, it felt like a huge earthquake.

"The hell?" Roy shouted hanging onto the rails of his ship. At that moment another object the size of a bowling ball impacted into the Captain's face and sent him spiraling to the wall. Maes looked back at him while also hanging onto the rails, he quickly asked, "Roy, are you okay?"

Roy grabbed hold of the object that was still in his face and took it off him. His face looked pretty much unharmed except for the fact that he was even more furious and red, "I just got hit with a cannon ball! Does it look like I'm okay?"

"Besides your temper, yes you look okay." Maes mumbled to himself with a smile on his face.

Roy glared at Maes then turned his attention to the ball that hit him, he gasped when he saw its strange design. It had a mad glare on it and a tongue sticking out, but what was most disturbing was the golden antennae that stuck up from the top.

"Oh you've got to be freaking kidding me…" Roy sighed in irritation and disbelief. Another earthquake raddled the ship sending everyone in an uproar.

"All hands on deck!" Roy shouted. His crew members paid close attention to him. "Armstrong! I need you to check for any leaks and Breda; I need you to ready the cannons. We still have time if we-"

Roy was too late to finish his orders. The crimson red ship was already too close to them and before Roy or anyone on his ship noticed it, the red ship was beside theirs. A maniac laughter pierced the air and sent a chill running down everyone's spines. Roy looked for the source of the laughter and found it coming from a golden haired young man. It was clear that he was a pirate from his red outfit and hat; he looked pretty young and had an eye patch on his left eye. The young teen stood on the rails of his own ship and smiled a devilish smile. Behind him stood his crew with ready swords and guns.

"Damn… could my luck get any worse…" Roy sighed as he stood up.

Havoc stared with his mouth gaped open as he let his cigar fall to the floor, "That- that's-"

"The so called 'Demon' of the sea." Riza finished for him while she stared at the fearsome pirate who was still laughing. She gulped and continued, "Going by many names like the Devil, or the Golden Pirate, or even the Crimson Banshee he has lived up to his infamous reputations and motto: 'I'll take what I see and give nothing back, that is my equivalent exchange'. His real name was Edward Elric but he had forgotten that name long ago. Now he goes by his true infamous name…"

"The Fullmetal Demon. Never thought I see someone like you in my lifetime." Roy gulped. The golden haired pirate bowed his head in a pleased to meet you way and then smiled a toothy smile. Roy gasped in surprise when he saw a glimpse of fangs in the boy's mouth.

"Alright boys!" The Fullmetal Demon shouted to his crew, his eyes gleamed a golden and content delight so much that it was almost frightening. He raised his strange metal right hand in the air and ordered, "Take everything you see on this shit ship and kill these fucking wretches!"

**Yay! That was fun! Oh, and just to tell all of you this is kind of like a prologue. The real plot will come next chapter. And I know I said I was going to type up the next chapter of Blood of the Beast today but I got sort of distracted and this story showed up instead. Sorry! Hope you all like this but I wont continue this if you all don't like it, and sorry about the cursing but hey their pirates, so please review and tell me what you think. I'll put up the next chapter of Blood of the Beast tomorrow instead.**

**Please Review! :3**


	2. Chapter 2

Review Time!

**Xiang Yun: ****Thank you! :3**

**BlackWolf2Dragoon: ****Thanks for the advice! I'm not that good at grammar and my skills are a little off but thanks for telling me what I need to work on. I'll try to follow that advice. And with the legend, I was trying to get the point across that this is the major plot and I totally love pirates! They're so awesome! Thanks!**

**MiniSkirtRanger: ****Thanks, pirates are the best! They're better than barbarians that's for sure. :D and here's your update hope you like it! And I was trying to match their personalities with what type of pirate they should be. I like Edward the best though, if you keep reading you'll figure out why… Heh heh.**

**NykSkyBlue: ****I love different! Different means that's it's the same in my mind but awkward and weird in the real world. That's what I usually aim for! And as for it being brilliant… I am a smart person! Admit it you know I am… just kidding! But anyways, hope you enjoy this! :3**

**Rivers of Angelic Roses: ****Dude I was drooling too! He looked so hot in my mind. And you'll figure out why he's wearing an eye patch later on in the story, but as for his fangs… there's a reason but mostly because I love picturing Ed with fangs. He's too adorable! And thanks by the way!**

**Harpy: ****Thanks and here's your update! Hope you enjoy it! :3**

** Anyways thanks everyone for reading and I hope you all enjoy this! **

** Fullmetal Alchemist does not belong to me.**

Chapter 2/ The Red Coat

"Take everything you see on this shit ship and kill these fucking wretches!" Captain Edward ordered his men as he himself jumped onto Captain Roy's ship, his crew shouted in excitement and followed after their captain. About 20 to 30 men were in Ed's crew with either sharp swords or guns, and immediately they all started raiding the ship and looking for valuables.

Captain Mustang didn't just sit around and let these barbaric pirates take all his stuff; he turned to his own crew and ordered them, "Defend the ship! Make sure nothing is taken and seize these uninvited pirates! Kill if you must!"

"Yes Captain!" His crew responded in unison.

A fight erupted between the two crews.

Edward laughed like crazy again. He hunched over and held his sides as if he was dying of laughter, when he was done he stood back up and wiped a tear away from his eye. He faced Roy and snickered, "Do you honestly think that your crew can win against mine? You only have at least 6 members and I have 30, do you really think you'll win?" Edward laughed some more.

Roy stared at the laughing pirate for a second then smirked and joined in the laughter, Edward's laughter died down to a small giggle turned silent, the smile on his face turned into a frown. "What the hell is so funny?" he growled.

Roy's laugh tuned down to a small snicker. He gazed straight into the pirate's golden eye and said, "I didn't order my crew to win, I ordered them to defend the ship at any cost and take hold of your own crew." Roy slowly let his right hand reach into his pocket and as it came out it was covered in a white glove with a strange red symbol on it. He let the hand fall to his side and saw that the red pirate had been following that hand the whole time. "You see my crew is very obedient when I give them a order and they always carry it out and never fail. Do you know why?"

Ed glared at the suddenly confident pirate and said, "I probably wont care but sure why?"

Roy raised his gloved hand in the air and said, "Because we are the Flame Pirates and I'm Captain Roy Mustang, the man who is going to be the Pirate King." With a smile on his face he snapped his hand and a pressure built up in the space around Captain Edward. Ed felt that pressure immediately and in a flash of speed he moved out of the space around him but to his horror where he was at burst into flames and caught on fire, Ed's eyes widened with terror when got away from the area but widened even more when he realized the worst possible thing happened: his red coat hadn't got out in time and the bottom part of it was burned.

Ed stood up straight again and glared furiously at Roy he bared his fangs and snarled lowly. How dare that wretch burn his coat! How dare even lay a finger on it! This coat was his own personal treasure and the last thing that… No, he had to remember his promise; he couldn't lose it now… at least not yet he couldn't. Ed eased up on his glare and stopped snarling while also letting his bared fangs turn into a fang filled smile. "The Pirate King? You? Ha! Don't make me laugh! A pirate such as yourself doesn't have what it takes to be the Pirate King!" Ed paused for a second then continued, "But now that I think about I have heard of you and your crew before… yes it's all coming back to me now the so called 'Prodigies of the Seven Seas' the Flame Pirates and their legendary hot tempered captain, Roy Mustang the Flame Pirate." Ed covered the eye-patched side of his face with his flesh hand and started laughing bitterly. "What wonderful luck! I get to have the honor of killing a so called Prodigy!" he continued on laughing.

A smirk grew on Roy's face. "And I get the honor of defeating the infamous Fullmetal Demon." Roy then thought about something and decided to say, "Though I could've sworn you would be taller." Edward flinched. "I mean aren't you a little too _short _to be a pirate."

Edward started to quiver but then his mouth opened and he snarled, "What the fuck did you call me because I must be hard of hearing I thought you said I was-"

"Short? Yes you are but if you want me to scream it to the heavens," Roy coughed to clear his throat then yelled at the top of his lungs, "YOU ARE A SHORT LITTLE PIPSQUEAK WHO IS TOO SHORT FOR YOUR OWN BRIDGES!" At that moment everything became quiet behind the two pirates. Roy looked behind him to find that Ed's pirates had stopped fighting and were looking directly at them, what was strange was that most of them had either a worried or scared expression on their face. Roy's crew didn't know what was happening but they still shared those same expressions. Roy heard small whispers in the opposing crew,

"Oooo he did it now."

"There's no chance of him coming out alive now."

"Dead man standing."

"And he looks so young for a captain."

"Poor sap, sealed his own fate."

What did that mean? Roy thought. He turned back to the now steaming mad pirate and took a step back. "Who the hell are you calling small?" he heard that faint voice of Edward. "Hm? I can't hear you…" Roy murmured trying to sound brave but in truth he didn't like what was happening. All around him he could feel a strange demonic aura and it was growing with every second that passed by, the young pirate opened his mouth and unleashed a booming roar.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT HE CANT REACH THE HELM OF HIS OWN SHIP TO STEER IT! I SWEAR I'LL TEAR OFF YOUR DICK, SHOVE IT DOWN YOUR THROAT THEN FEED YOU TO THE CHIMERAS! I'LL SEND YOU TO DAVY JONES LOCKER! I'LL MAKE YOU WISH THAT YOU WERE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN ROTTING WITH THE FISHES!" Roy covered his ears and groaned, for a pipsqueak he was really loud. Strangely he was louder then Armstrong. The red pirate then pointed at the worried captain and demanded, "I challenge you Captain Roy Mustang to a duel!"

Roy scoffed and tried to look cool, "Okay, where?"

Edward grinned and pointed upwards, "Why, the crows nest of course," (A/N: I think that's what it's called. If you don't know what I'm talking about I mean the long board that's under the sail, if that doesn't explain it then its where Jack Sparrow and Davy Jones fought at World's End) Ed looked up and said, "One on one, captain vs. captain, a fight to the death."

Roy shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes, "Its your funeral not mine." Edward smirked then frowned again when he saw his crew wasn't fighting, "What are ye pussies doing! I told you to kill them!" His crew stumbled at first then continued on fighting. Ed looked to Roy and sighed, "Anyways lets get this over with," Ed clapped his hands and to Roy's surprise blue lightning emerged from the air and enveloped the young captain, Ed then grasped his metal arm with his flesh one and the metal slowly turned into a sharp blade. The lightning vanished and what was left was the grin on Ed's face and the transformed arm. "Now lets begin shall we." Ed squatted down then made a huge leap to the base of the ship; he grabbed hold of it then started climbing up it, much to Roy's disturbance. To make a jump like that and climb that fast this kid must be a monkey or something! Roy thought when he noticed that the young pirate was already at the top and waiting for him.

Roy was about to follow after the youth but was stopped by Riza's voice. "Captain take this and don't die!" She handed him a sword and he caught it smoothly in his hands. "So now you're giving me orders?" Roy scoffed with a smile. Riza scoffed as well while she shot another pirate. Roy held his hand down to the floor and snapped his fingers, fire burst from them and sent him flying upwards but not high enough to reach the crows nest. Quickly he grabbed hold of a rope that was next to him and climbed it until he finally got to the top where the Fullmetal Demon was waiting. Roy stood up straight and held out his sword, "You ready?"

"Don't ask such a stupid question, just prepare to die dumbass." Ed growled menacingly while holding out his bladed arm. Ed took a step forward and Roy did the same. They began to charge at each other with their swords ready and a scream emerging from their throat.

Back on Ed's ship a brunette haired boy was lying in bed and coughing. He looked out the window to only see his brother fighting with a dark haired man; he coughed again and slowly sat up but was only laid back down by the blond haired young lady who was taking care of him. "Al you can't move yet." She said calmly but her voice was filled with worry.

Al coughed harshly and said, "But I have to Winry. Ed needs me and I-" He coughed some more into his hands but when he opened them he found a twinkle of blood in them. "Damn it." He rasped. Winry gasped and felt tears build up in her eyes. She hated seeing Al so sick like this. She hated that the only thing she could do was give him water and tell him to lie down. She was so useless to him and Ed, but that's why with all her heart she put her faith in Edward.

_Please Ed, you need to find it, _she quivered as she grasped Al's shivering hand, _you need to find the Philosopher's Stone._

**Good? Yes? No? Maybe so? Either way, I hope you all liked this, and sorry but I had to cut this short. I'll try to get the next chapter in as quickly as I can but anyways, please review and thanks!**

**Pirates Forever!**


	3. Chapter 3

Review time!

Harpy: I'm really fast at updating but unfortunately next week I probably won't be updating as much. Thanks and yes PIRATES ARE AWESOME, EPIC, BADASS, and need I go on? :3

NySkyBlue: Here's another update! But this may be the last one until next week… hope you enjoy it!

Rivers of Angelic Roses: Mwa hahahahahahahahahaha! Al's fate is in my hands! But no I'm probably not going to let him die… or will I? And you'll have to figure out what's wrong with him later on in the chapters. :3

**And to my other readers, I thank you all for favoriting me and my story! Hope you all enjoy this! :3**

Chapter 3/ The Legendary Treasure

"Al no! You can't go!" Winry enforced but had a big problem keeping the teen down, "If you go you'll-"

"I know!" Al shouted in protest as he stood up out of his bed. He breathed in and out constantly while clutching his chest. "But Brother needs me." He staggered over to his three swords, his own personal treasure, and picked up two of them, the swords slipped into his belt and hung slant on the Al's waist.

"Al, Ed can win this with no problem whatsoever! And he ordered me to make sure you stay in bed!"

Al huffed, "I already know that brother can win this." Al wobbled to the door and opened it. He took one last look at Winry and said, "its not the winning part I'm worried about, its him that concerns me." Al walked out of the room and prepared to join the battle on the other ship. Winry stood flabbergasted in the room alone.

Blades clashed together as gunshots pierced the atmosphere around the battling pirate crews. On top of the crow's nest Roy had fought with everything he had, his sword lay to his side and his back was hunched over from his tired state. Edward was in that same tired state but unlike Roy he could go on forever if he wanted to. Roy stood up straight again and held his sword firmly in his hand, his opponent did the same. At the same time they charged at each other, their swords clashed with each other and ended up in a cross lock. Mustang glared straight into the pirate's golden eye his breathing was harsh and ragged but Roy managed to scoff, "So this is the strength of the infamous Fullmetal Demon, I'm impressed but you're still an amateur in my book."

The golden eye glared back at the dark eyes. Ed smiled bitterly, "I compliment you. Out of all the captains I've fought, you've been the one to fight the longest." Ed then pushed force on his sword, which made Roy cringe and take a step back. "But unfortunately you won't last much longer." Edward put more force on his sword, Roy gritted his teeth but kept his ground. Ed laughed triumphantly and asked, "Do you know why I got the name Fullmetal Demon?"

Roy smirked and pushed on his sword to try to even the balance. "No but I probably wont care."

Edward stopped laughing and just smiled wickedly. "I might as well tell you. I got the Fullmetal name from my metal arm," he looked over to his blade that was once his arm, "and also from my stubbornness. But I don't really think I'm stubborn do you?" Ed pressed forward on the blade; Roy took another step back and groaned.

Roy's hands tightened around his sword and the urge to snap his fingers was beginning to sound like salvation but he knew that if he took one of hands off his sword then he would be dead within a second, for now he had to press forward. "I really don't know if you're stubborn or not, I don't know you that well." Roy's hands began to tremble with strain, "So how'd you get the name Demon?"

Ed's smile grew bigger. "Because I am the cruelest pirate of the east coast."

Roy snorted, "No that can't be the reason, every pirate is cruel and does the most demonic of things. What's the real reason?"

Ed flinched and Roy took that opportunity. With all his strength Roy forced his sword forward and gained back the ground he had lost, Ed clenched his fangs and groaned. The smile on his face turned to a frown and his sword was only an inch away from cutting his face, just because he showed his weakness he had lost the strength advantage. "The real reason?" Ed scoffed, "Hopefully you wont have to know." Ed breathed and glared straight into those dark eyes again but this time there was something different about the glare. It looked almost sad but angry at the same time. "For the sake of you and your crew, you had better hope you wont find out." Edward looked down at the battles below and sighed, "It looks like your crew has defeated some of my men. Interesting."

Roy scoffed, "It looks like victory is in our grasp."

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch." Ed remarked, "This isn't over yet!" Edward pushed forward again. Roy pushed as well and soon their swords were balanced and tied with power. "So tell me, if you wish to be the Pirate King then you must be after the legendary treasure, am I right?"

"You're correct but every pirate is after the treasure." Roy eyes then began to sparkle with a dark desire, "The legendary treasure called One Piece (A/N: In truth I didn't want to use One Piece but I needed that name for something later on in the story.) That is said to make a pirate's deepest desires come true. You must be after it too."

Ed smirked. "Of course. But I just need that little red stone. All I want is the Philosopher's Stone and the title of being called the Pirate King. I don't really care about the rest of the treasure. But you on the other hand, I never would've guessed that Captain…mm… I forgot your name…" Ed pressed down more and gained back a little of what ground he lost. "I'll just call you Captain Bastard."

A vessel popped on Roy's forehead. "Captain Bastard huh?" He pressed forward and gained back what Ed took, "I could just call you the Fullmetal Pipsqueak." Roy saw a vein pop on Ed's somehow red face and smirked, "I think that name fits you well."

"Who the-" Ed began but never finished.

"Captain Edward!" one of Ed's subordinates shouted, "Its your brother!" Ed glared down and gasped at whom he saw, his eyes went wide with shock when he saw his brother with a sword in each hand and a ready-to-fight expression on his face. What guarantee and confidence Edward had deserted him and the emotion of pure fear and worry took control of him. Ed started to breathe hard and paid no more attention to his own fight, "No! You idiot! Stay back, we can handle this!" Roy looked at the frightened captain and saw the perfect chance to win this fight, yet Roy strangely couldn't take it. There was something wrong with the young captain that made him lose all focus… it couldn't be his brother could it?

I'm sorry brother, Al thought, but its time I start being useful to you again. Al scanned over the crowd of pirates and located the ones who were enemies. He prepared to launch himself into the fray; he clenched on tightly to his swords and prepared them. "Don't do it!" Edward shouted loud enough for everyone to hear him. The two crews heard his cry but Roy's was too late to react. Al had already launched himself into the fray. Ed looked back to Roy and begged, "Please you have to let me stop him!" Ed's eye was filled with sorrow and pleading, Roy just stared at it for a second but was pulled out of it by the scream of Havoc.

Roy looked down, his eyes targeted on Havoc who was screaming from the pain of a sword being shoved in his back. Behind Havoc was that boy who was Captain Edward's brother. The boy yanked the sword out, let the man fall to the ground, and in a flurry of speed he went to Hughes and Hawkeye who were fully aware of his presence. Hawkeye fired her guns at the speeding boy, the bullets flew at Al but as a surprise to Riza, Al held his swords up and blocked the bullets and ricocheted them back towards her. One of them went into her shoulder and the other she narrowly dodged. Maes cursed and threw his knives at the boy but to no affect Al had dodged those too. Al swung his swords at the two and ended up cutting them across the chest, blood gushed out from their wounds and sprayed onto Alphonse.

"Ya! That's it Al! You got them!" A man shouted cheerfully.

"Shut it! You don't want the captain to hear you!" another man hushed.

"But he's helping us win. Isn't that a good thing?"

"You really are new aren't you? The captain doesn't want his brother fighting because of his condition."

Al started to breathe fast again and his head was beginning to make him dizzy. Colorful dots consumed his vision and blood started to gush from his mouth, Al stuck his sword into the floor and fell to his knees. No not now… his vision was completely useless now. His body fell limb and a single thought echoed through his head… I'm sorry brother…

Behind Al a big muscle man grabbed the young boy and shouted triumphantly, "We got one captain!" Al couldn't struggle anymore, his conscious was threatening to leave him, Al gazed up to his brother and mouthed, sorry big brother.

"Al!" Ed yelled. Roy flinched when he felt something different about the young captain. "You bastard!" Ed snarled at Roy as an incredible surge of strength pushed his sword back with him as well. In a surprising turn of events Edward broke the cross lock by having Roy's sword cut his face. Roy took a couple of steps back and looked at the furious captain. Ed glared lividly at the captain as blood ran down his face, he licked the blood that ran to his mouth and felt the wound that was inflicted only moments ago heal.

Roy watched as the cut sealed up and left no trace of it ever being there. The blood that flowed down Ed's face was the only proof that a cut was ever there. Roy was lost in words, "How… did you…"

Ed smiled a fang filled smile and his eye widened to a clean delight. "How you ask?" his voice was dripping with venom. He took a step forward and snickered, "I guess you'll figure out how I got the name Demon after all." Ed grabbed his eye patch and yanked it off. Roy almost fell of the beam at the sight of the young boy's eye. It wasn't missing. It wasn't gone. It was a fully operational eye but it had no trace of humanity in it. The eye was golden like its other but had a cat-like black slit in it and looked as if it was glowing. Ed took another step forward and covered half his face with his flesh hand and snickered, "Tremble in terror at my true form."

"True form?" Roy asked, a sickening pressure began to build up in the area around. The pressure pushed down on the raven-haired captain and threatened to crush him entirely. It was as if gravity itself was determined to crush his bones.

Ed groaned and fell to his knees. His fangs were clenched tightly together as his hands slammed to the ground, just as he was about to scream out in pain one of his men shouted, "Captain! It's the Marines!" Ed groaned and looked up into the distance, a ship was coming their way in by no means was it another pirate or sailor. Damn! And I already started the process! Ed thought while getting to his feet, he looked to his brother who was still being held by that muscle man then looked to the raven-haired captain. "Thank the Gate that you survived today." He snarled as he jumped off the crows' nest and onto the deck. "Everyone back to the ship!"

Out of everything that was bad. Nor Edward nor Roy could be caught by those filthy Marines. The Marines only cared about capturing and executing the pirates that sailed the sea and by whatever means necessary would do anything to make sure that no pirates set ship on their seas.

"Aye Captain!" his crew responded. They started to run back to their ship while Edward pushed past them to get to his brother and some of his captured crewmembers. Ed stopped dead in his tracks when the woman his brother had injured pointed the gun to Al's head. "Leave and we won't harm them!" she bargained through rough breaths of air while trying to ignore the pain in her shoulder. Ed snarled and took another step forward but was stopped when a burst of fire came his way. He quickly dodged it and looked up at the opponent he once faced.

"Leave my ship immediately!" Roy growled as the coming Marines were getting closer. Ed bared his fangs at the Captain and looked back at his captured brother and crewmembers that were tied up. "Leave captain!" one shouted.

"We can take care of ourselves!" another shouted.

"Brother! You have to go now!" Al shouted.

"Al I can't go without you!" Ed cried out.

"You have to or we all will get caught by the Marines!" Al persuaded on even though darkness was beginning to take his vision, "We'll meet again brother! I promise! Just go!"

Ed frowned and turned to his ship where all his men were. He clenched his hands and ran towards his ship. He jumped off the rails of Roy's ship and landed on his own as it was beginning to sail away. Ed took one last look at his brother and heard him shout one last sentence before he fell into unconsciousness, "Don't lose it brother and I'm sorry!" Ed looked to his crew and ordered, "Get us out of here as fast as you can!"

"Yes captain!" his crew shouted. They all took their positions and sailed away from Roy's ship. Ed looked back at the ship, as it was getting smaller within the increasing distance, "Al, you'd better keep that promise." Ed fell to his knees and clutched his chest. Damn it…

Roy dropped down from the crows' nest and took hold of the helm. "Armstrong! Take the prisoners to the barracks and Fury, take to the wounded." They nodded and did their jobs. Roy sailed his ship away as fast as he could but unfortunately he had no experience with a helm and probably wouldn't get his ship out in time. A hand brushed up against his shoulder and another took hold of the helm.

"Captain, I believe this is my job not yours." Havoc snorted with a cigarette in his mouth. Roy looked over to the wound Havoc had and ordered, "You're in no condition to sail! Go back to the deck and let Fury-"

"Captain, _let me sail us away." _Havoc said one more time. Roy saw the determination in Havoc's eyes and with a sigh and a smile Roy stepped away from the helm and ordered, "Then get us out of here Sailing Master Havoc." Havoc nodded and firmly put both his hands on the helm and sailed them away from the Marines.

Roy looked down at the captured members of Captain Edward's crew and gazed over to the one that was his brother. _Six captured and one of them is the guest of honor. _Roy thought with a smile. "Havoc! Set sail to Dublith! We have an important errand to run!" Havoc nodded and watched as the sun began to set.

**That's it folks! No not really. Or is it?... O.o**

** Anyways I hope you all enjoyed it and :3 I love kitty faces! They're so cute! :3 And now it's a devious kitty face! :3 But next chapter wont be all that good for Edward and Winry. And Roy as a conversation with Al and the rest of the prisoners! A bonding conversation maybe? :3 Maybe… but probably not.**

**Remember to review!**

**Pirates Forever!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Harpy: Don't underestimate me, I could make something bad happen to Al if I wanted to! Heh heh! Thanks! **

**NySkyBlue: Here's an update for you! Thanks!**

**Xiang Yun: Thanks for reviewing! And in this chapter you'll get an idea of what Edward truly is… but if you don't I'll explain later on.**

**BlackWolf2Dragoon: Don't worry, you don't need to watch One Piece to understand the story. And sorry to say but I don't know what pairings I'll have, most likely when the story progresses there will be a pairing known. Thanks!**

**Fullmetal Alchemist does not belong to me and any One Piece references don't either!**

**And without further ado…**

Chapter 4/ Crimson Dream-Filled Sea

The dark night sky reflected harmoniously against the silent blue sea while the moon and stars lit the sky in a heavenly way. The wind was cool and calm as it blew through the sails of Captain Edward's sails.

"You bitch! Why'd you let him leave!" Edward shouted in sheer anger as his clawed hand met Winry's cheek. Winry shrieked and fell to the floor; her hand automatically went to her red, bleeding cheek that had four precise claw markings on them. Ed's remaining crewmembers gathered around the conflict that was unfolding between their captain and the young blond woman. They whispered to each other saying that they felt bad for what was going to happen to the blond but they all knew that this was going to happen. It was just a punishment after all. Winry didn't follow the captain's orders and will end up with a high punishment… or maybe by luck she would get out of her punishment. But only by luck…

"Well bitch! I'm waiting!" Ed growled as the pain in his body began to grow. He hunched over a little but kept his golden eyes on the trembling girl.

"H- he… just wanted to help you! I couldn't stop him!" Winry choked out and shivered at the look in Ed's eyes. His right eye still looked vaguely human but his left one… it had lost any sense or connection to humanity, and in a moment Edward's entire body and soul would soon follow. Winry dared not to scoot away from the enraged boy and kept her ground, she slowly stood up but her shaking legs didn't give her support and she ended up falling again.

Ed glared furiously at her. "Help me? I didn't need any help out there! Everything was going fine and according to plan, but now…" Ed groaned as the pain shot through him like a bullet. It was getting worse he had to wrap this little "conversation" up before the change started to become more violent. Inhaling a breath of air Ed clenched his fist and glared straight into Winry's eyes, "Now Al is gone! Captured by that bastard captain and probably being tortured right now! Along with the rest of my crew that got captured! Damn you! Cant you do anything right! Cant you-" Ed stopped hollering when he saw tears swell up in Winry's eyes. Winry held her head down apologetically and to hide the fact that she was crying. After all, what was there to cry about? It was her fault and hers alone that she let Al leave… she couldn't blame anyone else but herself…

A lump formed in Ed's throat at the sight of her tears falling. A frown formed on Ed's face and his eyes showed a bit of sorrow, even the inhuman eye showed a tiny ounce of grief. Damn, he had done it again. Once again he made Winry cry. He knew that he was being a little hard on her but that didn't excuse anything, he was the captain of this ship and as a captain he had to punish those who disobey his direct orders. And Al is no exception; he too would have to be punished for disobeying him… if he ever got to see Al again. Ed hesitantly took a step forward towards the crying blond, he wanted to comfort her, he wanted to tell her he was sorry and never let her go, but something stopped him. Ed looked down at his clawed hands and grimaced. He couldn't comfort her with these blood stained hands- no, not with the hands of a demon. Clenching his hands tighter Ed opened his mouth half way and whispered a faint but audible sentence, "I'm sorry Winry."

Winry looked up at Ed with streaks running down her face and choked on her words. She didn't know what to say. The two stared at each other for a second then all of a sudden Edward doubled over in pain, Winry gasped and cried out his name she crawled over to him and held his shoulder. His body was shaking terribly and unknowingly his claws were digging into his skin while his hands were wrapped around his sides. Blood began to twinkle down from the new wounds and everyone around the two cried out for their captain.

Unexpectedly Ed stood up trembling on his shaky legs and shouted in a raspy voice, "Marcoh!" his crew turned to one another to search for the man named Marcoh. Ed looked around then fell to his knees as the pain rose to unbearable new heights. "MARCOH!" He shouted again in a more demanding tone.

"Yes Captain!" a young yet old man with black hair and gray hair on the sides of his head pushed through the crew and ran to his pained Captain.

Edward took in heavy breaths and gasped out, "Take me to the barracks… and use **that** transmutation on me…" the pain became more focused on his head now. In reaction Ed clapped his hands to his forehead and screamed, the pain was intensifying with every second that passed by. His scream turned blood curdling and pain filled as something began to protrude from the side of Edward's head, Ed closed his eyes and screamed louder as a horn burst through his head in a spray of hot blood. Winry flinched along with the rest of the crew at the sound of Ed's scream but to Marcoh he was unaffected. He already knew that Ed's screams would get louder and more painful but it was after the screams that really sent shivers down his spine.

Another horn burst through Ed's skin while a shrieking scream ripped away from Ed's pained soul and body, blood dripped down from the horns and the sides of his head. Ed took in every breath of pain and looked up at Marcoh. "Did you not understand me the first time? I ordered you to take me to the barracks and perform that transmutation on me!"

Marcoh jumped to attention and told two men to help get Edward down to the barracks. With his fangs clenched Ed looked up to his Sailing Master and ordered him, "Aaden! Take us to the nearest island you find! And make sure there are no Marines!"

The Sailing Master named Aaden nodded and answered, "Aye Captain!"

Edward then let a bitter smile creep on his face as the two men who were carrying him took him to the barracks. When they went below the ship Marcoh already had the transmutation circle drawn out and ready. He looked to Edward and told the two men to place Edward down in the middle of the circle. They did so and left the circle immediately but before they left Ed ordered them, "Tend to Winry and make sure those scratches get treated." The two men nodded then left the barracks leaving Edward, Marcoh, and the circle alone together.

Marcoh took in a breath of air and asked, "Are you ready?"

Ed smirked and growled, "Do it." His horns started to resonate with the hot pain that was spreading to every part of his body.

_I'll take this burden alone Al. _

Marcoh nodded and placed his hands on the circle activating it.

_There's no need for you to dirty your hands and share my pain for the trouble I caused._

Pure yellow light started to rise and flood the room; Edward smiled in bliss for a moment while staring at Marcoh's worried and terrified face.

_Yes, I'll take it all in and give back nothing. Because that is my equivalent exchange._

And then the screaming started and rose in volume as Edward's body began to change.

On deck Winry and the rest of the crew heard the pain filled cries. After ten minutes the cries stopped and were then replaced by a feral snarl and roar. Winry covered her ears not wanting to listen to Ed's- no that wasn't Ed down there… not anymore it wasn't. It was more of a demon's cry for freedom… the freedom to kill off anything and everything that it saw.

**I decided to split up the chapter because it would be too long. I'll probably get the next chapter in by today… if I get some reviews in. Nah, I was planning to get the chapter in regardless. But still…**

**Please keep reviewing and I'll get the next chapters in as quickly as possible!**

**Pirates Forever!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Dreamgirlforever2009: I have no idea what a gary-stu is. I think I have a pretty good idea but maybe I'm thinking of something else. Thanks for rewiewing btw! :3 And I'm glad Edo isn't a gary-stu, whatever the heck that is! :D**

**NykSkyBlue: You'll learn what happened in this chapter… or at least you'll get a pretty good idea. Thanks for the reviewing! :3**

**FullmetalFan16: I don't know why but I like it when a lot of stuff happens to Ed. Its fun to me I guess. And like I said before you'll figure out what happened to Ed or at least get a good clue at what happened in this chapter.**

**And to all my other readers, thanks for the reviews and thanks for reading!**

**FMA does not belong to me!**

**And so without further ado…**

Chapter 5/ Azure Dream-Filled Sea

On the still side of the sea, the ship called _Hell Starter _sailed smoothly across the blue sea. The dark night sky reflected harmoniously against the silent blue sea while the moon and stars lit the sky in a heavenly way. The wind was cool and calm as it blew through Captain Mustang's sails.

Roy looked into the distance of the night and sighed. _Looks like we wont be getting to Dublith until tomorrow morning, _he thought while walking down to the deck floor. He was alone while the rest of his crew, except Hughes who was watching the prisoners and Havoc who was sailing the ship, were asleep. The only company he truly had at the moment was the ocean and the stars. The deck was clean spotless from the earlier fight he had with that barbaric pirate. It was kind of hard to believe that that young man was a captain for not only a ship but also a full man crew! Though in a strange turn Roy could somewhat believe it, that young man seemed quite young but very grown and… wise. But alas a pirate is a pirate and the boy was as bloodthirsty as any other pirate Roy had encountered, yet this one seemed more violent… more demonic even.

Roy recalled the feeling of pressure he got when the angered captain revealed his other eye, that feeling was terrible and repulsive… it was as if evil itself was lingering in the air. He couldn't help but think if there was a hidden meaning behind the name Fullmetal Demon. If there was would it matter to him?

Roy pushed the topic to the back of his mind and looked up to his Sailing Master. Havoc stared endlessly in the distance with tired eyes ahead of him and looked like he was caught in some kind of trance until the voice of his captain snapped him out of it. "Havoc! Take a break and get some sleep!" Roy shouted.

Havoc didn't argue with the order. He nodded and saluted to Roy then vanished from the Captain's sight. Roy stood still for a second then decided to go down to the barracks where the prisoners were. He walked down the steps and heard the usual rantings of his first mate, "Isn't she the most adorable girl you've ever seen! I know she takes after my wife Gracia because-"

Roy sighed as the constant ramblings continued. He must be talking to the prisoners again, he had specifically told Hughes time and time again not to converse with the prisoners! Yet Roy saw this coming, it was no use pretending that he didn't. "Yes she's very cute and all but don't you think you should rest your voice?" said a young blond teen in his attempt to stop the man from talking. "Wait so her name is Elysia and her name Gracia?" asked a younger blond boy while pointing to the picture that Maes was holding of a young girl and woman. "Fletcher!" snapped the older boy while giving the younger boy a scowl. "What?" the youth named Fletcher asked innocently.

"Correct!" Maes said with a smile. "They're both beautiful." Fletcher proclaimed, "don't you think so Russell?"

"Yes they're both lovely." Russell sighed. He had been listening to the man's talk for at least an hour now and it was starting to annoy him, how his younger brother could withstand this he had no idea. Russell looked over to the other three people who were in the cell with him and sitting on the ground then to his salvation Roy interfered with the conversation and said, "Hughes, what have I told you about talking to the prisoners?"

Maes blinked then shoved the picture of his wife and daughter into his breast pocket. "Lighten up Captain or you'll end up a stone cold rock." Hughes joked but then saw a serious spark flash in Roy's dark eyes. He stood up straight and saluted his captain.

Roy sighed again and said, "Get some rest Hughes. I'll watch the prisoners." Maes nodded and started to leave the prison hold but not before saying, "Watch your back Roy."

Roy snickered. "Who do you think I am, Hughes?" Roy scoffed with a grim smirk. Maes smiled and left, leaving Roy and the five prisoners alone in the room. Roy scanned over the prisoners and thought, _a young boy, a teenage boy, two young women, and of course Fullmetal's brother. _Roy snickered to himself and approached the bars that separated him from the captured pirates. "So tell me, do any of you have any ideas about what I'm going to do with you all?"

The pirates held their heads down and remained silent. Even the two brothers took a couple of steps back away from the man.

Roy smirked. "Fine, don't talk. But just to give you all a heads up we're on our way to Dublith where I will personally sell you all off as slaves." The smirk grew wider when he saw the shocked faces of the imprisoned pirates except the one in the back, Fullmetal's brother - he didn't show any emotion to the claim he just made yet in those gray eyes burned a faint hatred that Roy had just caught a glimpse of. "I'm 100% sure all of you will be worth a pretty penny… well maybe not so much as you." Roy scoffed directing his head to Fletcher who had taken a huge step back and was trembling at the man's cold dark stare. Crossing his arms across his chest and letting his smirk fall to his infamous poker face he said calmly, "Or I might have a change of heart and let you all stay here and join my crew."

All their heads snapped up to look at the dark captain. He had immediately caught their undivided attention.

"Ah it seems I've caught your attention. But keep in mind that this is an offer and nothing else. A bargain you may call it. Either join my crew and have freedom, under my command of course, or be sold as slaves and remain on Dublith where your owners will do hell knows what to each and everyone of you." Roy blinked and smiled. "Your choice." It remained quiet for a second as the prisoners just looked at one another, giving each other glances as if conversing with their eyes. Then Russell turned to Roy and simply said,

"We refuse."

Roy was awestruck. "You speak for everyone?" Russell nodded with hard serious blue eyes glaring straight into Roy. Roy smirked and decided to change the whole subject. He looked down at the trembling young boy and asked, "You look a little young to be a pirate. What were you doing out in the fight?"

Fletcher glared at the captain trying to be menacing but his trembling body betrayed him. "What does it matter to you? You're a low down, good for nothing pirate!"

Roy laughed out loud. "I'm low down and good for nothing? Oi kid, you have a lot to learn about the pirate world! And besides wasn't it your captain that attacked me?" Roy's laugh tuned down to a snicker, "Speaking of that shorty, is he the one that's making a youngster such as yourself fight?" Fletcher's glare fell and Roy immediately caught the advantage. "So he is. Now that is cowardly and cruel, making kid's fight in a raid how shameful. Its just so-"

"Shut your mouth!" Al shouted in a frenzy of sudden rage. He stood up and walked directly to the bars where the raven-haired captain stood on the other side, Al glared face to face with him and yelled, "Don't you dare talk about my brother like that! Don't talk about him as if you know him! Especially not in front of me!" by the time Al finished Roy already had an upset frown on his face, but that quickly turned to a mischievous smile.

"Oh? Looks like someone is getting angry at me for talking about that scum of a captain." Roy pressed on knowing that he was angering the young pirate. It strangely intriguing him that the boy would get this angry at him just for calling his brother a couple of words.

"Why you son of a-" Al started but never finished.

"Al that's enough!" the young woman in the back said as she stood and interrupted the furious teenager, "There's no use getting upset over someone as clueless as him."

Al turned to the woman. "Lyra stay out of this!"

"No Al!" retorted the other woman who now stood up. She had night black hair that was held back in a bandana and icy blue eyes that stuck out the most because of her tanned skin. "Let Lyra speak," she then turned to Roy and coldly said, "after all this fool doesn't know a single thing about our captain." Al cooled down and stepped away from the bars.

Roy gave the woman a glare. "What's there to know about him?" Roy smugly proclaimed.

"You really are a bastard." Lyra sneered, "Our captain is young I admit but he's wiser and better than you'll ever be. He doesn't care much for himself and puts others in front of him before he gets his own needs."

"Are you trying to tell me that he's a non self centered pirate? Bullcrap!" Roy scoffed. In secret he liked where this conversation was going, he was a little curious about that pipsqueak and for some reason wanted to find out more about him.

"What are you trying to imply? That all pirates are self centered beings?" Russell spoke up while urging his brother to take a couple of steps back.

"That's the case with most of them." Roy smirked.

"Well your damn wrong about our captain. He isn't self centered in the least, he took me and my brother in when we had nothing – hell, he took us all in when we were nothing to this world!" Russell blurted with his voice rising in volume. "We all repay his kindness with joining and working for him whenever we can! How can someone like you understand that? How could someone like you understand what he's been through!"

**The wheels began to turn… **

Roy mentally laughed to himself. "So what are you trying to tell me? That the infamous Fullmetal Demon who has been said to massacre towns all across the world is a sailing charity? But what do you mean by been through?"

All fell silent. The room's atmosphere turned deadly and still as if something of taboo had been spoken of. Al clenched his fist and approached the bars; his gray eyes narrowed at the captain but then showed something of sorrow and anger. Roy couldn't understand it; he couldn't understand the boy's silent emotions. Al hesitantly opened his mouth and his voice came flowing out, "Since we're both pirates it probably won't matter if I tell you this. Now if you were going to turn us into the Marines for what I'm about to say then I would have to kill you."

"You and ten thousand more women." Roy joked but stopped when he saw the edge in Al's eyes.

"My brother, Captain Edward, has performed human transmutation." Al finally said. He looked up to see Roy's shocked expression and snickered, "From your look I can tell that you know what human transmutation is. I was with him when he did it, actually I helped him-"

"Al why are you telling him this?" the black haired woman interrupted.

**And the first wheel turned… and the Demon bared its fangs**

Al turned to the woman and shrugged. "In truth I don't even know. Maybe its just because he interest me in some way…" he paused, "But relax Vale, I always have reasons for my actions." He then turned back to Roy and smirked, "Now where was I… oh yeah!"

"Who we tried to bring back is none of your business but since we were only kids when we performed it we didn't know of that god damn law," Al paused and his face turned to remorse from the memories that began to resurface from within him, "To obtain, something of equal value must be given, that is the law of equivalent exchange. Tch! All because of that god damn law we lost everything…"

"You failed the human transmutation didn't you?" Roy asked suddenly.

Al frowned. "Ya we failed to bring the person we wanted back to life. On that night we failed and lost…" Al choked as tears threatened to fall from his eyes. But he kept them back; he wouldn't dare show his emotions in front of this man.

"So what did both of you give up?"

**The second wheel turned… and the Clown laughed**

Al slapped his hand to his forehead and groaned. The room fell into an even deeper despair as everyone in the cell stayed quiet until Al broke that silence, "My body and soul was taken and my brother's arm too." Roy's eyes became wider. "My brother then gave up his right arm to get my soul back, but that's all he could take back from the Gate. He attached my soul to a piece of armor and when I awoke I found my brother getting ready to bleed to death. Then I saw that thing that we tried to bring back… that _thing _wasn't even remotely human…" Al started to cough. He closed his eyes tightly and hunched over as a coughing fit came over him. The coughing calmed and Al continued on.

"So lets skip ahead a couple of years. I'm still in the armor and my brother has gotten an automail leg and arm… those are his metal limbs by the way… so we then leave our home and set off to travel the world in hopes of learning to get our bodies back. After two years my brother finds a way to get my body back, I argue with him saying that he has to get his back first but he tells me that he'll get his back later." Al's face cringes as the memories of the night he got his body back flash before his eyes. "Ed then takes me to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of a little town he then drew some kind of transmutation circle that I've never seen before. He told me to get in the middle of it and then tells me that everything will be all right… he activates the array and I fall unconscious… when I wake up I find myself in my human body again but I also find my brother on the floor withering in pain."

"I didn't know what to do for him so I went into the nearest town to get some help. I come back to where my brother was with a doctor but to my horror I couldn't find him. I yell out his name, screaming for him to come back… I tell the doctor to stay in the warehouse until I find him and reluctedly he does, I then go searching for Ed in the nearby forest after a while I cant find him and head back to the warehouse… on my way I hear a scream and immediately run in the direction of it but to my surprise the scream came from the warehouse… I go inside and see…" Al started to cough violently again he covers his mouth with his hand and abruptly stops coughing, he looks at his hands and sighs. A couple of droplets of blood stained his hands but Al decides not to show anyone and shoves his hands in his pockets. But Roy wasn't fooled by his hide-and-shove tactic.

"So, what do you see?" Roy asked with his eyes narrowing to Al's pockets.

Al catches the man's gaze but lets his eyes fall to the floor. "I saw my brother eating the doctor." Roy's eyes grew wide with pure shock. "At first all I saw was a ton of blood and insides on the floor then I see the doctor calling out to me, his voice no longer seemed to work with a creature biting at his neck. That's what I saw next; a creature that looked like to be a monster in my eyes. I remember it all too clearly: its black wings, that blood covered smirk, the horns, and those piercing golden eyes… the one word that came to my mind was demon."

"The demon dropped the dead man and then came to me and as a natural reaction I tried to get away but it pinned me down… the demon then said my brother's name and almost automatically I know… that demon was Edward."

Roy was speechless. He couldn't tell whether what this boy was saying was true or just pure nonsense. "What are you trying to say?" Roy managed to get out, "That your brother isn't human!"

Al snickered. "Exactly."

**The third wheel turned… and the Clown laughed at the Demon.**

Roy scrunched his nose and bellowed, "Don't play games with me! That's nothing but shit you're spilling!"

Al smiled at the raven-haired captain. "This isn't shit, these are facts. Have you ever heard of Cattlebreak Town?"

Roy nodded. "It's a ghost town now. A long time ago the inhabitants of the town were all killed in a single night, no one really knew how but no one visited the town after that."

"Cattlebreak was the town we were close to." Al huffed.

**The fourth wheel turned… and the Demon cried to the Moon**

Roy gulped, he didn't like where this was going.

"Edward massacred that entire town in one night." Al said. "He told me right before he did it that he was hungry and had a certain urge…"

Roy was once again lost for words but tried to remain in his usual non-emotional state. "You've lost me. How did he become a… demon?"

"Simple, equivalent exchange. Brother gave something up when he transmuted my body back, but what he gave up seemed unscientific and even logically possible." Al paused and let his smile drop. "He gave up his humanity."

**The fifth wheel turned… and the Moon cried for the Demon**

"But even after Ed gave that up my body wasn't the same," Al hunched over and started coughing again, "my body… my health… is poor…" the coughing sent Al to the floor and made the four pirates in the cell with him crowd around him.

"I'm dying…"

A gallon of blood forced its way out of Al's mouth and onto the floor.

**The final wheel turned… and the Clown laughed at the Demon and Moon.**

_I should probably explain to all of you what has happened:_

_1. Ed isn't human, he's a demon._

_2. The Clown is represented as the Truth, or All, or God, or One, or You, or… well you get it._

_3. The Moon is represented as Al._

_4. The Demon is represented as Ed. _

_I don't think I'm missing explaining anything so…_

_**Please Review! :3**_

_**Pirates Forever!**_


	6. Chapter 6

Harpy: Oh my gosh I hate Edward Cullen so much. He's a disgrace to all vampires! Heck he's not even a vampire, he's a fairy! He sparkles, doesn't eat humans, and lives in a forest what other proof do other people need! Strange, I don't remember making the chapter sad… oh well! Glad you liked it! Thanks! Btw O.O

The Snow Crystal Alchemist: Here's an update for you! And thanks for explaining what a gary-stu is, and the perfect example was Edward Cullen XD. Though if you like him I'm so sorry for saying that! Thanks!

Rivers of Angelic Roses: His fate is in my hands! Mwa hahahahahahaha! And yes Edward is sooo smexy as a demon pirate! Thanks!

FullmetalFan16: O.o is that a good or a bad thing? Either way thanks!

**And thanks to the rest of you who read!**

**FMA does not belong to me!**

**And now on with the show….**

Chapter 6/ The Greed of Dublith

Silence consumed Captain Mustang's quarters while he sat with his face in his hands on the edge of his bed. He was alone to think about what had just happened. After Al had puked up his own blood Roy ordered Fury to help Al, Fury gave Al a sedative herb that would numb any pain he was in and would put him to sleep. Al reluctantly trusted them enough to allow Fury to give him the medicine and his other friends allowed him to get closer to the sick boy. Roy was just glad that the boy was okay, after all he wouldn't get much money selling him if Al was useless and handicap – no, that's not right. That boy had committed the most dangerous taboo in all of history, even if he was a pirate there is a limit to what a pirate can do. And to think that his brother Edward isn't human and is just a cold hearted demon… wait, why was he thinking about this now?

Roy raised his face out of his hands and sighed. He's the captain of the _Hell Starter, _the great Flame Pirate who has conquered and defeated the most dangerous of pirates, and the man who will be the Pirate King, yes he was going to find One Piece he is going to find that treasure and claim that title, he doesn't have time to care about a bunch of snot nosed brats who bit off more than they could chew. Yet something inside of him was screaming at him to help those pirates, but why should he? He has sold countless other prisoners he had captured and sold them off too. So what's different about this? As a captain he should throw away what emotions he has and prepare to make hard decisions and sacrifices, after all that is how a true pirate acts. They act only on greedy intentions and strong impulses, that's the way of a pirate. That's the way the world runs.

"_Our captain is young I admit but he's wiser and better than you'll ever be. He doesn't care much for himself and puts others in front of him before he gets his own needs."_

Puts his own needs behind him and others in the front? What a load crap. A captain cannot survive in this harsh world by caring about others; a captain wouldn't even be represented as a pirate if they weren't ruthless and greedy. A bitter smile curled up on Roy's face and his voice escaped him, "Then what am I considered?" _A pirate desiring the greatest treasure of all will not live to see it if they are not greedy. They will not live to make it to the Grand Line. _

"Land ho!" Havoc yelled from the outside of Roy's room. Mustang shook his head in frustration and stood up. He had to get over what has happened. He had to face today without worries. Grabbing his blue hat and ignition gloves Roy left his quarters and scowled at the bright sunlight that glared in his dark eyes. He cringed and put his arm over his forehead for relief from the light. Roy took a couple of steps forward and looked out into the distance, he breathed in the cool refreshing morning air and smiled. He looked to Havoc who was coming down to the deck and complimented him.

"You picked a good place to hide our ship. As always Havoc you are precise in your spots." He then looked back to the wall of jagged rocks that shielded and hid the _Hell Starter. _The rocks were against the coastline but kept the blue ship in constant hiding, no one would find his ship behind this rock wall.

Havoc smiled with a newly lit cigar between his teeth and said, "Thank you sir!" Roy looked to Armstrong and asked, "Did you get the prisoners?"

The muscle man took a step to the right and revealed that the five prisoners were behind him the entire time. They all looked glum and worn out as if they haven't gotten any sleep, which was probably true. Sleeping in the barracks isn't like a cloud pillow; it would probably be more comfortable to sleep in the sand rather than the barracks. "They're right here Captain." Armstrong responded while holding up a chain in his left hand. The chain seemed to connect to all the prisoners by their hands; they looked practically cuffed with their hands together in the front of them.

Roy nodded. He looked to the rest of his crewmembers and found that they were all attended for. "Falmon, Breda, Hawkeye, and Fury, you three stay and guard the ship until we get back. This shouldn't take long. Armstrong, Hughes, and Havoc you all come with me."

They all nodded. "Aye Captain!"

Armstrong led the prisoners off the ship with Mustang, Hughes, and Havoc following him. They all began to walk to the small town that was in the distance. Al then looked up at the sails of the ship and smiled sadly. He turned to the raven-haired captain and asked, "So is that your flag?"

Roy blinked and looked up at his sails which had a symbol engraved in them. He turned back to Al and answered, "Yes it is," Roy reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his gloves. He then showed Al the symbol on the glove and Al realized that the glove had the same symbol on it as the sails. Roy put the glove back in his pocket and smirked, "As you probably already know that is the flag for the Flame Pirates in other words that is our symbol."

Al smirked back. "Not very creative are you?" He said with an attitude while directing his attention to the red transmutation symbol. (Sorry I have no idea what that's called!) Roy ignored the smart remark and walked faster to the front of his little group. Al sighed and looked back at the blue ship that was getting farther away and less visible for him. He then started to fiddle around with his chain restraints to find a way out of them but even if he did then what would he do next? Al looked around him and scanned over the muscle man that was in the front, the bastard who was ahead of him, the crazed man with that picture who was beside him, and the smoker who was in the rear. If he did get out of the restraints in time there was no guarantee that he would make it far let alone free any of his other comrades. If only he had his swords with him, if only that damn captain hadn't taken them then he would have no problem getting out of here. Al sighed again at the most the only thing that was good right now was his health. He didn't feel completely great but he felt better than he usually does. But that was the only thing to be happy about right now. He needed to come up with a plan to escape and help his comrades… but for now he would have to wait for an opportunity to show up.

Roy squinted his eyes as the town of Dublith came into view. It wasn't much actually it was just a small town with its usual accessories: restaurants, stores, houses, clubs, banks, and of course a damn Marines Headquarters. Roy grunted at the thought of those Marines. He completely hated the Marines, he despised them so much that it made him tremble with anger. Why he hated them was because they arrest and execute any pirate they get their wretched hands on… even if the pirate had good intentions they execute them in the name of their so-called 'justice'. _Its all for the sake of world peace and happiness! _That was one their sayings but it was just a bunch of shit. Roy's teeth gritted and his eyes narrowed at the memory of what those bloody Marines did to him and his family… damn them all! They should all rot in Hell for what they do! They seize and apprehend anyone who is even related or in piracy activities and sentence them to death, they destroy the dreams of everyone and tear families apart and what really makes Roy's blood boil is the fact that they don't give a fuck.

Roy inhaled a breath of air and started to calm his nerves. It was no use getting upset right now; there was nothing he would gain from being pissed at this precise moment. Exhaling the air Roy put on a cunning smile. The thought of becoming the Pirate King filled his mind; once he becomes King of the Pirates he will then put a _permanent _end to those accursed 'Sailors of Justice'. And that was a promise. And unless his reputation is false, the great Flame Pirate always keeps his promises. Still when he becomes the Pirate King he will finally be able to atone for what he's done… for all the wrongs he's made he'll finally be able to correct them…

A cheering noise was heard ahead of Roy and the sounds of firework poppers crackled the air. Roy looked ahead and saw the gate entrance to Dublith with only one person guarding it. A chubby man with bright orange hair and a grin on his face looked at coming pirates, he would be easy to take out. It would be a piece of cake just to knock this poor man out but to Roy's surprise the man approached him and giggled, "Welcome to Dublith kind visitor! You came on the right day considering that today is our annual festival!"

This man clearly had no idea that Roy and the people behind him were pirates. What a foolish softhearted man.

"Everyone is welcome! Visitors and strangers a like!" the man continued while jumping up and down. He looked behind Roy to the chained youths and gasped, "Oh my!" This was it. He figured out what they were. Roy's body tensed as he prepared to reach for his sword just in case the man was about to cry out for help. "You lot must be the entertainment! Its so good to see you all in time!" Roy was awestruck was again. He relaxed his body and let his hand fall to his side he put on a kind smile and said, "As a matter of fact we are. So if you don't mind…" He pushed past the chubby man with slight force and ushered the rest of his crew to follow.

"Wait! No! He's a-" Russell shouted but never finished.

"Dancer actually. You see he's the lead dancer in our little group." Hughes laughed with a smile on his face when he saw Roy give him a quick but deadly glare. "He's a dancer of the modern arts and anything else you can think of. You could call him an aristocratic pro of movements." Hughes finished with a laugh.

The man's smile widened with pure glee. "Wonderful! We haven't had a male dancer yet so you would be perfect!" Russell stood in complete shock and disbelief was this man really that stupid to not be able to tell that these were pirates. For Gate's sake they were dressed like pirates! How can he not be able to tell! "Go on in!" The man lilted while still jumping in utter excitement. They all went through to gate and entered into the crowded town of Dublith.

The streets of Dublith were filled with people of many kinds. There were balloons, streamers, and children running rampant with child like happiness from left to right. It made Roy a little happy to see these children having the time of their lives but it made him even happier that they blended right into these festival people. Some people were dressed as pirates themselves and even playing pirate but it was clear that they weren't a true person of the sea.

"I wouldn't try something like that again if I were you." Hughes whispered a warning into Russell's ear. "If we're found out then that means you'll be found out but to put it to you simply," his voice turned clear and wrapped in a calm venom, "you tell, we all die." Russell gulped and bit his lip. He was out of options now. He didn't know what else to do. He could try his alchemy but without the use of his hands he couldn't draw a transmutation circle. And of course calling for help is a flat out death sentence. Russell looked down at his brother who was staring at the ground while taking every step that led him closer to his doom and then looked back at everyone else behind him.

Lyra could get them away from these scumbags if she could only reach the necklace around her neck. Fortunately those dumbasses forgot to take away the necklace that was the shape of a transmutation circle. Unfortunately her hands were bound and useless. Vale could try her own alchemy but she also needed her hands that, unfortunately, were also useless at the time and Al… he looked in deep thought as if he was in a trance and was just walking to follow meaninglessly. The thought accorded to Russell that he could be thinking of a way out of this but what could he do?

"We're here." Roy said coldly. Armstrong halted the walking prisoners and looked to his Captain. Roy looked down to a small staircase that led to a door he turned back to his crew and ordered, "Sailing Master Havoc and First Mate Hughes, guard the entrance and if you see anyone suspicious pass you come alert me."

The two pirates saluted Roy and said in unison, "Yes sir!"

Roy turned to Armstrong and nudged his head to signal him to follow him. Armstrong did so and pulled on the chain in his hands. Roy walked down the steps and entered into _Devil's Nest _with Armstrong and the captured pirates following him. Immediately the ragged smell of over priced alcohol and the heavy lingering scent of used cigars filled Roy's nose. He didn't despise the smell – hell he's gotten use to it by now. Yet the sight of what he's seen still needs some work on. What came into his view was a bunch of half-naked women, nasty glares from envious men, and drunken pirates who were about to start a fight.

_Home sweet home_. Roy thought. He could've sworn he heard that older blond boy whisper to his brother to close his eyes. Yes it truly was a 'home', maybe a broken one but truly one of use.

After all it is a hideout for the lowest of pirates. And there was one in particular that Roy had to find. He squinted his eyes in search of that man and figured out one thing, where there was a group of women there was that man. Roy turned his head to the right and sighed he found a large amount of women at the end of the room. Roy ushered Armstrong to follow him through the devastated sea of drunken soldiers, pirates, and who knows whoever the hell else was there. He glanced over the pounds of women and cleared his throat. "Greed, I know you're in there."

The women stopped moving at the sound of his cold voice and turned to him. They all gave him a cold glare but there was a hint of interest in their eyes. "Ok ladies that's enough. Give me some space." A voice from behind the women said. The women obeyed and scooted away to reveal a tall man relaxing calmly on a sofa. Spiky black hair stuck up smoothly on the top of his head and a pair of round black shades covered his amethyst eyes a contented smile tugged at the man's lips and his attention was focused on the elder man. "So what do I owe to this unexpected visit?"

Mustang snickered and sneered, "You know damn well what I want Greed."

"What? You want one of them?" Greed asked while pointing to one of his women, "If you want one you can have one."

"Tempting Greed very tempting but we all know you wouldn't just give something up for free." Roy mumbled while glancing at the women and giving them one of his famous charmed smiles. The women blushed and grouped in together. Roy looked back to Greed and changed his expression to a serious poker face. No playing around this time, now true business was to be done. "So tell me Greed," Roy began, "where's the new info about One Piece?"

Greed smirked and glanced behind him to his two bodyguards. One was a muscle bound man who was carrying a hammer of some sort and the other was a young looking man with a sword at his side. He turned back to Roy and answered, "What do you have in exchange?"

Roy looked to Armstrong and the big man understood. He pulled on the chain to reveal the five pirates who were bound by their hands. "I assume a few more 'helpers' is enough for you?" Roy smirked.

Greed scanned over the prisoners. A small blond boy with his eyes closed, a taller blond with a look of hatred, a young woman with a slim body… that could be put to use, another woman with a slim yet obviously strong body maybe that could also be of use, and at the end a young brunette boy… wait hasn't he seen this boy before? Greed turned to Roy and pointed at the brunette, "Yo Flamo, who is this boy?"

Roy followed the finger and replied, "That is the Fullmetal Demon's younger brother. Hell this is some of Fullmetal's crew."

Greed's finger fell and a crazed smirk grew on his face. "You really are a crazy fool Mustang. You would go as far as to capture the brother of that demon? You must have a death wish if you're willing to go to such measures."

"I've been had a death wish Greed." Roy coolly replied with a proud smirk.

Greed started to laugh at the Captain's reply. "You know what Mustang I believe we're both alike in many ways." Roy frowned and his body started to tense, "As greedy and heartless as I may seem I can see right through you. You're willing to go to great lengths to get what you want and I respect you for that." Greed ended with a sneer.

"Cut the crap Greed and tell me if we have a deal." Roy hissed.

The sneer kept on Greed's face revealing his abnormal sharp teeth. "I'll let you know by noon today but until then why don't you hang around and enjoy the festival! I hear there's a gypsie or two dancing around up there and the food is as good as a nobleman's."

Noon? Roy couldn't wait that long! He needed to be heading back on the sea! He doesn't have time to waste! "Greed, I need an answer now." Roy struggled through calm breaths.

"And I'll give you one when you come back here at noon. Just relax, you offered me a very promising exchange and I have no doubt that I might say yes to our deal."

Roy was about to further the argument into screams but thankfully Armstrong stopped him at the last minute. "Captain, maybe it is best we wait for a little while and besides the festival did look fun."

Roy sighed and turned to Greed, "Fine but make your decision by the time I get back." Roy turned away not waiting for a reply and led his subordinate out of the accursed hideout. Greed sneered and looked back at his bodyguards, "Well boys looks like we have a great opportunity in front of us. Do we accept and take Fullmetal's crew and send that little demon a ransom for his brother and crewmwmbers or do we decline and end up with nothing. What do you think Dorochet?"

The man with the sword flinched, "Accept the offer Mr. Greed."

"Ah now that is a smart idea but that demon would literally kill us for having his precious brother here. Let alone if we even touch him. In other words that is asking to die." Greed called his women back over to him and smirked, "This might just be a tough decision after all but then again, maybe it wont be." The women all giggled and prepared to strip Greed of his stress.

Meanwhile on a deserted island by the name of Yock Island a red pirate ship landed on its shores. On the ship a blond haired woman with a small patch on her cheek walked down the steps to the barracks hesitantly. The snarls and screams had stopped over an hour ago but that didn't mean that everything was safe down there. Those screams were etched into her very memory and were still ringing in her ears as a wake up call – it was like a wake up call to face reality. Yet it hurt so much to realize that all this has happened, it hurt to realize what her Captain and friend truly was. She reached to the bottom of the staircase and looked to see an exhausted Tim Marcoh and a bloodied array in front of him.

Winry ran over to Marcoh and found him unconscious. She laid his head softly on the floor and straightened out his body so that it wouldn't be so tensed. She searched him and found that he was only unconscious because of either intense strain or fatigue. She turned her attention to the bloody transmutation circle and then her eyes fell upon the lump of black in the middle. The lump started to shift and move around, Winry then realized that there was a black blanket over the figure. The figure moaned and started to stand; it hid its face and body with the cover and weakly rose to his feet. The person then took the cover off his face and wrapped it around his waist to hide the fact that he was completely nude. Golden eyes stared tiredly yet sternly at the blond girl and a mournful frown sat on Ed's face. His entire upper body was exposed and showed that any wound that was inflicted upon him in the past was now healed leaving no trace of a scar on his smooth ivory skin. His flesh arm grasped the blanket around his waist to keep it up while his metal arm hung lazily at his side.

"Where are we?" Edward asked in a husky voice. His throat must be dry from a lack of water.

Winry gazed at him for a second then answered, "Yock Island." Her voice was dripping with evidence of grief. Ed frowned deeper at this.

"Yock Island? That's close to a town called Dublith isn't it?"

Winry nodded.

"Alright then," Ed tightened his grip on the blanket and ordered, "go back to the deck and get me something to wear. It doesn't matter what it is. And also get medical help for Marcoh." Ed turned to the unconscious senior, "After what he went through to help me he deserves a good rest."

Winry nodded and prepared to run back upstairs. "Anything else Captain?"

"Yes actually there is," Ed smiled a sad smile and relaxed his body, "tell someone to get a dingy ready. I'm sailing to Dublith."

"Dublith? If you don't mind me asking why?"

Edward smirked. "I'm going to need some new clothes and maybe someone there has seen or at least heard of where Al went."

Winry nodded sadly and ran upstairs to the deck. Her face masked her emotions as hard as they could yet the inside of her was twisting her heart painfully. Her very emotions were constricting around her and suffocating her. It was just too much. In a sense Winry was happy to see Ed back in his human form but she knew that something was terribly wrong with him. What, she didn't know. Her thoughts and emotions started to shift back to Alphonse. She just hoped that he was okay and well.

**Oi! I don't think this is a content ending. I sort of got lazy towards the end sorry! But anyways I'm tired and ready to take a nap. So…**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Please review!**

**Goodnight! And don't let Gerald Way bite!**

**Man I love that guy! MCR forever!**


	7. Chapter 7

**REVIEW TIME!**

**NykSkyBlue:**** I can't wait either and what will happen to all of them… who knows? And for who else is in Dublith… well this chapter will tell you a few more people but I can't tell you everyone! And yes, MCR IS AWESOME! My favorite song by them is ! BTW you ever heard of 30 Seconds to Mars or the band Disturbed? Thanks!**

**Mysterious- Becci- D****: All I have to say is that I love making epic climaxes'. Because they're epic of course! Thanks!**

**VivaNewVegas****: Thanks and I like the idea of Ed's lost humanity also. In truth I was going to just make him a dying victim of forbidden alchemy but I changed my mind and thought this would be better! ^^ And what do you mean by use it? If you mean his demon form then yes he's going to use that later on in the story.**

**FullmetalFan16****: He really is! I'm going to feel bad for Roy though… oh well! I'm over it! :D**

**Awesomenaruto****: Here's an update for you! **

**And to everyone who is reading… thank you for reading and commenting! **

**FMA does not belong to me!**

**And so without further ado…**

Chapter 7/ Accept It 

"So you promise to buy me whatever I want?" Winry asked with sparkles in her eyes.

"For the hundredth time Winry yes I'll buy you whatever you want while we're here." Edward moaned as he rowed their little ship to the harbor of Dublith. "But after I find myself a new wardrobe, since my last pair of clothes were torn beyond repair." What the red pirate was wearing now was a white t-shirt with a black overcoat that covered it, black pants and a pair of black men shoes. He was also wearing his eye patch to cover up his left eye and hidden in his coat was his own personal gun. A pirate can never drop his guard even in a small town like this.

"Oh thank you Captain!" Winry squealed, the sparkles around her brightening with her excited emotions.

Edward grunted as he rowed harder and held on tighter to the two paddles in each of his hands. "You may go off on your own to shop but keep in mind that I'm only staying for at least six hours. So if you're not back at the harbor in that time I'm leaving without you."

"You wouldn't leave me Captain, we both know you couldn't." Winry smirked.

Turning to the blond girl Ed sneered at her with interest and asked, "What makes you think I wouldn't?"

"Because I'm the only medical doctor in your crew and not to mention I'm your personal mechanic." Winry pointed to Ed's right automail arm. "Without me, you would have no right arm at all."

Edward laughed. "True very true Ms. Rockbell." Edward looked behind himself and saw the harbor come into view.

"Captain, may I ask you a question?"

Edward turned back around and faced her. "Sure what is it?"

Winry thought for a second if she should really ask him this but her own curiosity and wondering was killing her. And besides she had to know the answer to this. She hesitantly opened her mouth and her voice came out in an honest stutter, "D-do you want to be human a-again?"

The once content smile on Ed's face quickly dropped to a frown. Golden bangs started to cover up the top part of the blonds' face and a sigh escaped his rough lips. "Of course I want to be human again but there's really no way of that happening. I can't hate what I am and I can't accept it but either way there is no way for me to be human again." Ed swished his bangs back and gave Winry a fang-filled smile. "I'm a demon so there's no use denying it but why did you ask that question in the first place?"

Winry flinched. "W-well um… because I- I…"

"Welcome visitors!" a booming jolly voice shouted behind Edward. Behind the blond was a chubby small man who was bouncing up and down and smiling bigger than the Cheshire Cat. "Welcome to Dublith kind visitors! You came at the right time because today is our annual festival!"

"Annual Festival eh?" Edward mused while stopping the boat and started to tie it down to the pole on the harbor. 'I should've brought the whole crew, they all would've liked to take a break and have some fun.' Edward climbed to the top, stood up straight and stretched out his arm for Winry to grab. She clasped his hand and climbed up to Edward's side. "So tubby, what's around here?"

"Captain, don't call him that!" Winry hissed.

"It's quite okay miss!" the man assured her with a smile before turning back to the blond boy, "But did she just call you Captain? Captain as in a _pirate _captain?"

An eyebrow raised on Ed's face while Winry flinched with nervousness. He turned to the shivering blond and sighed, "We're performers for a pirate show this evening. She calls me Captain to get into her role." With a smirk on his face he finished with saying, "She plays the role of being (1.) me proud beauty."

Winry blushed with embarrassment when Edward wrapped his arm around her shoulder; she somehow liked this but as well was furious with it. Yet she kept her mouth shut.

"Oh, oh! Well she looks like a one in a million!" the man laughed. "My, we have a lot of performers! Jugglers, clowns, lion tamers, and not to mention dancers!"

"Yes, yes that's very nice tubby but we have to go now!" Edward started to push past the man with his hand tightly around Winry's arm.

"Still it surprises me to see a group of male dancers dressed like pirates and having some members of their group chained up! I suspect that's part of their act!" the man chuckled while holding his belly, unknown to him Edward and Winry had already left him alone.

Edward took in a sharp breath of air and turned to Winry. They had already entered the busy and excited streets of the small town and were being slightly pushed by people. "Winry remember, you have six hours and if you're not back at the harbor by the time that time ends I'm leavin' without you. Savvy?"

Winry nodded and said, "Aye Captain but where's my money?"

Ed reached into his coat pockets and pulled out a rod of cash and handed it to Winry. She counted the money and frowned, "This is only 3,000 cenz! What am I going do with this!"

'For one thing buy yourself a temper, honestly that's 3,000 cenz you can buy a lot with that.' Edward frowned down on Winry and just walked away. 'First things first I'm going to need to visit Teacher before I get myself a new wardrobe.' With a sigh Edward pushed through the crowds and searched for his teacher's house but soon found out it would be impossible to find in these crowds.

"Edward? Edward Elric?" a young voice called out. Edward turned his head to see the person who called to him. "Um excuse me sir, but are you…" Edward looked down behind him and found a young boy with long wild black hair and dark blue eyes that were filled with wonder. "Ah! It is you Edward!" the boy exclaimed with a smile. He was wearing a sleeveless black shirt and brown shorts, his feet were bare and in his hand was a stick of cotton candy. He wrapped his arms around Edward and muffled his voice, "Oh Edward its nice to see you again! It's been so long since the last time we met!"

Edward tilted his head and smiled, "Ah Wrath, it's nice to see you too. You enjoying the festival?"

Wrath unwrapped his arm and nodded wildly, "Extremely! Everything around here is fun! Not to mention I get all the sweets I can eat!" He said while gulping down the rest of the cotton candy stick. "So why are you here Edward? You usually don't come here to visit often."

"I came here for two reasons only Wrath. One is because I need a new outfit and two is because my brother has been captured and I was going to see if anyone around here has seen him."

Wrath's eyes grew big. "Al's been captured? No way!"

"Yes way. Which is why I need to talk to your mother Wrath."

"Oh okay! I'll take you to her, she's volunteering at a festival booth along with Father! You should see them Ed its so funny what they do-" Wrath stopped talking for a minute and reached into his pocket, "By the way do you need anymore red stones? I have extra." He pulled out four small red stones and showed them to the blond captain.

Edward cringed at the sight of the crimson colored stones and felt his throat dry up. The air around him became increasingly hot and pressure built up within him, the urge to take and devour the red stones was screaming to become an action and the clenching and unclenching of his now sweaty palms didn't help with the resist. Unknowingly his hand had already grabbed one of the red stones from the small boy's hand and was only an inch away from his mouth. Edward closed his eyes and relaxed himself he opened his mouth and popped the red stone in. he started to chew it and with a gulp he muttered to Wrath, "Thanks lad."

Wrath smiled, "You welcome but do you need anymore?" Edward already grabbed the other three stones and started eating those too. "Well I guess you won't be needing anymore." Wrath said shakily.

Once Edward gulped down the last of that he asked Wrath, "So can you take me to your mother now?"

"Of course but while we're walking there can you tell me a few tales about your adventures?"

Edward nodded. Wrath smiled even bigger and started walking with Edward right behind him. "Alright then, let me tell you the story of me and me crew when we pillaged a Marine ship."

Wrath's mouth gapped open. "You robbed a Marine's ship? But that's impossible!"

"Aye lad we did! And nothing is impossible for the Fullmetal Demon!" Edward laughed, "Well it all started when-" While telling the story Edward ran his tongue inside of his mouth. He still had that taste in his mouth when he ate the red stones. That blissful taste that sent his nerves wild and a chilling sensation up his spine. The taste of human lives or may be better described as _souls. _It tasted so good to him maybe too good to him. He knew it was disgusting to devour human lives and yet he wished Wrath had more red stones, the taste was just too good for it to end. And besides there was no use denying the fact that he enjoyed eating the stones. It was the only thing that kept him back from hurting other people and since he's a demon eating souls was no big deal. Actually it could go either way, he could eat a human or devour a soul it didn't matter to him but what did matter to him was what his brother thought of him. It pained Edward to one day find out that Al was disgusted with his methods of controlling his hunger although Al already knows that Ed eats red stones, it would still be a stab to his heart if Al thought he was some kind of freak or monster.

But Edward had to face reality. He knew that he was a monster – no, a demon who preys and devours humans. If the chance ever came for him to be human again then most likely Edward would not take it. He already has the taste of souls and tainted blood on his tongue, and he has already gotten use to the fact of being a demon. Even though he was in his human form right now the truth would still remain that he will never be human again. Even if he could be human again he wouldn't take it… because there's not even an ounce of what was left of his mortal personality left. He couldn't hate what he was but he couldn't accept it either. Ever since that transmutation he performed two years he just couldn't accept it.

_No, he just wouldn't accept it._

Unbeknown to Edward a scarred figure was watching him from a distance. His dark skin and anger filled red eyes were covered by his black leather coat and shades. The outfit he was wearing was all black and by his side was a long sword sheath. "Hm? The infamous Fullmetal Demon… seems like God is on my side." The man said to himself while silently following the young blond pirate.

** Okay! Pirate vocabulary time!**

**Pirate words/ English meaning**

**Me proud beauty- My pretty woman**

**2. Me- My (FYI when I say me in a sentence that doesn't mean I mean 'my' every time. You'll get use to it trust me!)**

**3. Savvy- understand?**

** 4. Aye- yes**

** 5. Pillage- Rob**

** 6. Lad- young boy**

** Okay that's all you all need to know for the time being! Congratulations! You're learning while reading fanfiction! Now your parents can't argue with you about not getting anything out of a computer! ^^I decided to use pirate words since this is a pirate story, so tell me what you think of the idea! If you want me to continue using pirate words or not is all up to you all! BTW this chapter was split again, it would be too long again if I uploaded it fully so the other half of the chapter is about Roy and his own problems!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Please review!**

**Pirates forever!**

**:3**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay I'm going to wait until the next chapter to do the reviews, only because this is a short chapter and was really sort of a bonus one.**

**But anyways! Thanks for reviewing and reading! I love you all!**

**Disclaimer: FMA does belong to me… okay, no it doesn't…**

Chapter 8/ A Short Winry Chapter

I looked down at the cenz that was in my hand and sighed. This will hardly be enough to buy the right tools I need for Ed's automail… I swear he can be so cheap at times. I shrugged to myself and walked over to a couple of small stores. A bakery… shoe store… clothing… grocery… botox… hm? Didn't expect a store like that to be in a place like this.

I turn to the right and find a little gift store. In the shop window are little Christmas toys for children; figures Christmas supplies would be out at this time of month. Its still only October and yet people are trying to sell early… what a bunch of moneygrubbers. My eyes wander down to a small crystal horse and I sigh. That's obviously a fake crystal by the way it glitters, I search for whatever is left in the glass window and then a specific item catches my eyes. I pressed forward harder on the glass to get a better look at the item and gasp… that's exactly what I need! This can't be the real thing! It's too much in detail to be the real thing! But if it is then I have to buy it no matter what!

Immediately I run into the store and ask the shopkeeper for the item in the glass window. He gets it for me and tells me its 900 cenz, not a bad price actually, I give him the money and walk out of the store with my purchase in a bag. With a smile I look around for somewhere else to go, suddenly I hear my stomach growl. I guess I'll go get myself something to eat first! I search through the party people and find a small concession stand that's selling ice cream. Now I usually would be happy to eat something as sweet and cold as ice cream but the line for it is way to long for me to actually be patient and wait. With a sigh a defeat by my growling stomach I get in the long line and wait.

Suddenly a hand grabs my shoulder and as a normal reaction I turn around and find a tall blond guy with a smile on his face and a cigar between his teeth. "Excuse me miss, but someone as lovely as you shouldn't have to wait in this long line," he says while showing me a vanilla ice cream cone in his other hand, "for you my dear."

Is this guy for real? My eyes narrow in suspicion at this suspiciously kind guy, slowly and cautiously my hand reaches for the ice cream and with a firm grasp I take it out of his hand and put it an inch away from my mouth. I examine the ice cream with my eyes just to make sure there isn't any poison or drug hidden on it.

"Relax, I didn't do anything to it." The blond man assures me seeing that I'm having trouble taking his nice act.

I lick the ice cream and when that cold flavor hits my taste buds I don't hold back with eating the rest. I begin to lick it repeatedly and in between the licks I say to the stranger, "Thank you."

"You welcome. By the way my name is Jean, Jean Havoc Ms…"

"Winry Rockbell." I say to him while gulping down the remaining vanilla substance.

"Ah Ms. Rockbell, would you do me the honor of spending the evening with me?" Havoc asked politely with a bit of a bow.

I giggled a little to myself and accept his offer – also known to him as a date – I finish up the rest of the ice cream and ask him, "You don't look like you're around here, are you a foreigner?"

Havoc laughed. "Actually I'm just here for a little business and as for me being a foreigner, no I'm not but I am a traveler per se…" He looks back at me and smiles. "What about you? You really don't look like you're from here either."

I nod. "Nope I'm not. I came here with a friend to look for someone."

"Oh? So I suspect that little gift in that bag is for your friend?"

"Well actually it's for him and my other missing friend."

"Oh well I'm sorry for your missing friend, who was he or she?"

"**He **was my friend's brother. He's looking for him right now actually."

Havoc tweaked his cigar. Something at that moment didn't sit right with him. In a flash of speed I grab his hand and begin to pull him, he almost tripped at how unexpected that move was. "Well aren't you going to show me a good time?" I ask him.

He smiles even wider and takes the lead. I hold onto the bag in my hand tightly to make sure nothing happens to it because what's in this bag is of the upmost importance.

**Yep I know its short, in Winry's point of view and not the best writing I've done so far. I guess I wanted to experiment with writing in 1****ST**** person rather than 3****rd**** person. Now let me explain in case someone is confused: Havoc has not seen Winry before and therefore doesn't know that she's part of Fullmetal's crew. Winry hasn't seen Havoc either so both of them are oblivious to each other pirate rivalry. But I hope you all liked it so here's what's happening next chapter:**

** Roy is with Hughes and explains why Havoc left. Armstrong is back at the ship with three of the prisoners while two of them are with Roy.**

** And Havoc gets a rude awakening about Winry's true nature…**

**And… I'm not explaining anymore XD!**

** But a fight will happen… oh yes there WILL be a fight!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Please review!**

**And never forget that Jack Sparrow is badass! I was watching the Pirates of the Caribbean last night and it was awesome!**

**Pirates Forever!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Review time!**

**Awesomenaruto:**** Thanks and you're about to find out! XD And no, she didn't buy the Philosopher's Stone. That would be funny if she did though! xD**

**VivaNewVegas:**** Thank you and I have to admit that's a good idea but that wouldn't exactly fit in with the story at this point, sorry but great idea. It's nice to hear some of my viewers ideas from time to time. :3**

**NykSkyBlue****: Here's an update and yes you guessed correctly, it is Scar! (no spoiler intended) and yes 30 Seconds is EPIC! And if you ever get the chance look up the song The Night by Disturbed, it's their best one yet but if you don't want to listen to it… well then okay! Thanks! And you'll have to figure that out when you read further ahead! :D**

**The Snow Crystal Alchemist****: O.O THANK YOU! xD**

**Mysterious-Becci-D****: Thank you! *****Giving you a high five for epic dancing moves***** And here's more for you!**

**Fluehatraya****: Thank you and yes, Scar is coming… things are about to heat up… literally. XD And yes, Winry/Havoc is pretty sweet but sorry to say that that will rarely happen in this story. And I don't support Ed/Win, not since Brotherhood… not since the writer's turned her into a damsel in distress…**

**BlackWolf2Dragoon****: I'm going to stick to third person, I just wanted to see how first person would go as an experiment so I'm sticking to third person. But anyways, thanks! :D **

**Oi! Thank you to everyone else who is reading!**

**But considering that I'm tired out of my living mind… let's get on with the chapter shall we?**

Chapter 9/ The Beginning to an End

Roy and Russell groaned in annoyance as they continued to listen to Hughes's ramblings about his wife and daughter, he had been talking with Al for an extended amount of time ever since they left _Devil's Nest. _Roy was all too frustrated with the fact that Maes was conversing with their prisoner as if it was nothing _again_ and frankly hearing him talk for half an hour about the same subject was getting quite the nuisance. After they Armstrong and Roy came out of _Devil's Nest _they found that Havoc had left to go somewhere and Hughes was looking at the nearby stores. Roy sighed about there guarding skills, he then told Armstrong to head back to the ship with three of the prisoners while he and Hughes take one of each, Roy had decided to take that blond older kid and Hughes took the brother of Fullmetal.

"Your daughter sounds really nice." Al laughed.

"She is of course! She's my little angel!" Hughes giggled while showing Al another picture of his daughter. "She was five years old when I left so right now she's probably seven."

"You visit her often?" Al asked, while he was secretly trying to undo the chains that restrained his hands. That was pretty much the only reason why he continued this conversation with this family-obsessed man, but so far he was getting nowhere with the chains.

Hughes remained quiet for a little while then smiled. "Whenever I get the chance to." He said with mild sorrow. Roy glanced over at Hughes and lowered his head a bit.

"I see, you seem to be a father who loves his family," Al said slyly and yet softly, "but if I may ask, why are you a pirate sailing all around the world when you have a wife and kid back home?"

Hughes flinched. Roy lifted his head and sighed, he looked behind him to an annoyed Russell and narrowed his eyes in a nonchalant style. Russell met those dark eyes and turned away from them. "Why are you a, 14 year old kid, sailing the seas without parental supervision?"

Al snickered. "Too shay but I'm 15 for your information." He looked over at the dark haired captain and asked, "What about you? Do you have a wife and children?"

Roy sighed again and answered with a shake of his head. The last thing he wanted to do was start up _this kind _of conversation again.

"Oh? A man as handsome as yourself doesn't have a girlfriend? What are you, like 45 years old and still single? Wow." Alphonse laughed while tinkering with the chains in a different method.

"I'm 28 years old! Does this look like the face of a 45 year old man!" Roy shouted while pointing at his face and getting closer to the brunette.

"Actually yes it does, with the bags under your eyes you could pass as my grandpa." Al joked while glancing over at an irritated Russell.

"What? Why you-" Roy began but didn't finish when Hughes interrupted his sentence.

"You know he's right Roy," Hughes said with a grin, "you do have bags under your eyes, so maybe you should get some more sleep every once in a while… and you really should get yourself a girlfriend. Or either hook up with Riza."

A vein popped on the Captain's forehead and dark eyes narrowed to irritated slits. "That's _Captain _to you, First Mate Hughes." He simply said, not wanting to further this talk.

"Aw don't be so uptight, Ro- Captain." Hughes corrected himself. "Look around you, there's a festival going on here and you're being Mr. Grumpy again. You could have some fun here."

"First Mate, if I'm going to have fun, what do you expect me to do with our prisoners?" Roy frowned while tugging on the chain that was connected to Russell. In response Russell flinched and looked up to see Al staring at him with a sly smirk on his face. Russell knew that smirk all too well. That smirk got Al out of trouble many times before this and it was going to get both of them out of this predicament, even though that smirk seemed way to out of character for Al and would fit his brother better.

So while Roy and Maes were bickering, Al was busy figuring out a way to slip out of those blasted chains.

…

Edward's mouth gapped open and his hands shivered with shock. "There's momma! Look at her go!" Wrath cheered with sheer excitement. There in front of the two males was a small wrestling match with a black haired woman and a large muscle bound man with an automail arm in it. There was a large crowd around the ring cheering and shouting for either one of the two to win. Wrath turned to the right and saw a large man sitting in a large booth with his eyes set on the match. "Father!" Wrath shouted while grabbing Ed's hand and drawing his attention away from the fight. "Edward! My dad's over here!"

Edward blinked. "Huh? Oh yeah! Um, I'll catch up to you." Wrath nodded and let go of Ed's hand he then ran over to his Father, Sig Curtis. Edward turned back to watch the fight, his golden eye went wide when his Teacher picked up her muscle bound opponent and threw him out of the ring. The crowd cheered with excitement while Edward just stood still, Izumi waved to the crowd and looked at every single one of them, but her eyes caught on to a certain blond boy who was hiding in the crowds. A gasp escaped her as Edward caught his teacher's sight and with a nervous wave of his hand he mouthed the word 'hi'. A smile grew on Izumi's face as she waved back she walked out of the ring and approached Edward.

"It's nice to see you again Edward." She said warmly while staring straight into the blonds' eyes.

"It's nice to see you too Tea-" Izumi's foot met Ed's face and sent him flying three feet away, which was a huge surprise to the crowd around them. He groaned and smiled bitterly while lifting up his head, "Ya, its really nice to see you again."

Izumi grabbed Edward by his hair and pulled him up to her face. "I haven't seen you in seven months and now you just walk in unexpectedly as if nothing has happened! And what's worse is that you're still a dirty pirate!" She yelled at him without the slightest hint of calming down, "And the rumors and names I hear people say about you is despicable! I thought you said you were going to give up on being a pirate but I see now that that was a lie! But anyways, what do you want here," she dropped Edward down to the ground and glared at him, "Fullmetal Demon? And where's your brother?"

Edward breathed, he saw that rampage coming a mile away and it was just getting started. "Well that's why I came here Teacher. Al has been kidnapped."

Izumi's eyes grew wide. "Kidnapped? When? How?"

"Yesterday and it was during a raid on a pirate ship."

Without warning Izumi kicked Edward again, this time he slammed into a tree. "You idiot! Haven't I taught you better then too raid another pirate ship!" she walked over to the tree and growled, "And what's worse you made Al fight."

"I didn't make him do anything!" Edward shouted while scrambling to his feet. He glared at his Teacher and said, "He went out on his own accord and I couldn't stop him!" his voice was filled with remorse and regret.

Izumi relaxed herself and sighed. She turned in the direction of the booth her husband was in and yelled, "Honey, could you take over for me?" Sig nodded and told Wrath to work at the booth. Izumi turned back to Edward, "Let's take a walk while you're busy explaining to me what exactly happened." Edward nodded and followed her into the joy-filled town.

…

A golden eye narrowed to a slit as it glared daggers down at the metal and flesh hands that were outstretched and clenched while the eye patch scrunched up and kept its place. Izumi remained quiet for a little while then sighed, "So, is that it?" Ed nodded as his face lifted to face his teacher's disappointed look.

Izumi sighed again. She wasn't angry with the young boy but just disappointed, though it wasn't Ed's fault that Al went and got himself captured and it wasn't Al's fault either. She understood that both of those boy's would help out each other in the deepest of situations, even if there wasn't a chance in a million those brothers would do anything for each other. And that's what disappointed her. They ran into danger without the slightest thought of what could happen or what their odds of getting out scrap free were. It worried her that even after what they've been through, they still wish to sail the seas and dive into danger. But she knew she couldn't stop them and that's why she decided to…

"Okay then, let me ask you this? You said the Marines were coming when you had to leave, correct?"

Edward nodded. "And the Flame Pirate's ship suffered damage from your cannons?" Edward nodded again. "Well then, that would probably mean that he would have to rest at the nearest island he could find… you said he also had some of your crew right?" Edward nodded, this talk was getting somewhere. "That settles it then, he's here."

Ed cringed with shock. "How do you know if he is?"

Izumi smirked. "Do you remember whom your talking to, Edward?"

Ed's right eye twitched then a mad sneer grew on his face. "How could I forget, Teacher? Back in your days no one could forget you."

"Damn right no one could, and are you implying that I'm old?" Izumi said dangerously.

Edward shook his head wildly. "Of course not!" he responded quickly then his face turned serious again. "So if Alphonse and my other crewmembers are here, then I need to go looking for them now." He was about to run off but Izumi caught him by his collar on his shirt and pulled him back to her side.

"You can't go yet Edward."

"Why not?"

"For one thing I need to tell you exactly who you're dealing with and two, I'm pretty sure you have some questions for me." Izumi looked over Edward and spat, "I never got the chance to ask you this, but why are you wearing those types of clothes?"

"Um, my last pair of clothes were torn and I needed a spare, so Winry…" Ed mentally slapped himself, "I forgot about Winry! Oh well, she's probably fine." He shrugged the split second worry off and faced his teacher. "But what do you mean by who I'm dealing with?"

Izumi breathed in and guided Edward to a small bench, they both sat down. "There's a lot more to the Flame Pirate then you might think of. He might seem like a captain who isn't that much of a fighter, but believe me when I say that he's dangerous. I've witnessed first hand what the man can do and it's just not a bunch of small fires he sets, he will make Hell come to earth if he wanted to."

Ed looked at his teacher with curiosity, "What are you saying?"

"Do you know what his second name is? He's also called the King of Hell or in some parts of the world he's called Hellfire Devil, now do you want to know how he got those names?" Edward nodded vigorously.

"Very well then… have you heard of Ishval?"

…

Meanwhile Roy had finally managed to end his long and aggravating conversation with Hughes, but only because Havoc came running to him and interrupted Hughes's talk about marriage much to Roy's relief.

"Captain! Have you seen a young blond woman anywhere?" Havoc asked frantically.

Roy shook his head. "How could I? There are tons of blond women around here, not to mention a crowd of people. But why?"

"Because I met the most beautiful young lady ever!"

"And she ditched you?" Hughes asked.

"No! Well yes, but she also took my money!" Havoc shouted while taking out his pockets and revealing empty sockets. Roy and Maes couldn't help but laugh at this, which infuriated Havoc. "Its not funny! She was really nice and best of all cute, but the second I turn my head away from her, she vanishes! Along with my loot!"

"Sounds like you just got tricked by a thief Jean." Hughes said while calming down his laughter. "What was her name anyways?"

"She said her name was Winry."

"WINRY!" Al and Russell blurted at the same time, drawing the attention of the three men.

"Do you know her?" Havoc asked.

Al grunted and sneered. "She's a thief who stole one of me treasures. She's a crafty woman, she drew me in with her amazing beauty and stole my prized jewel without a second thought." Havoc dropped to his knees and sobbed. "I wish I could've warned you about her, but oh well, its too late now." Al sadly said while lowering his head, it wasn't in his nature to hide behind a lie and keep his facial expressions calm so he couldn't show his face while speaking at the moment. "She did the same thing to Russell." he said as Russell nodded sadly and put on his own mask to hide his real emotions, "She's a cold hearted bitch she is."

Roy sighed and rubbed his forehead, "Well I hope you learned a lesson Havoc, you should be careful when you-" Suddenly Roy was knocked down by a passing man. The man looked behind and down at Roy and scowled, "Watch where ya goin'." Roy looked down at the chain in his hand then up at Russell, who almost fell down with him. Roy looked up at the big man and smirked, "Don't you think you should apologize?"

The man's feature darkened. "Huh? Why would I do a thing like that?" the man came closer to Roy and glared daggers into him, "I advise you to stay out of my way, little man."

Roy stood up and shoved his end of the chain into Havoc's hands. Facing the man Roy narrowed his eyes and glared up at the angry man, "Me, stay out of your way? But aren't you the one in my way?"

Without warning the man raised his fist and it met with Roy's face. "You dumbass, nobody talks to me like that." Deciding against moving an inch, Roy stood his ground and grabbed the hand that was imprinted on his left cheek, taking a firm hold of the wrist he squeezed it tightly to make sure the man couldn't get out of his position. Havoc and Hughes stepped back and sighed, they both knew where this was going.

"Hey, this is a festival don't ruin it with your petty fighting skills." Roy spat.

"Petty?" the man struggled to get out of the raven-haired man's grasp but utterly failed. He raised his other hand and struck it down but it was easily caught by Roy's other free hand.

"Oi, you're ruining the fun around here." Roy sighed in regretful disappoint as he looked around at the sudden crowd that was forming. "I guess I'll have to erase the problem then." He said in a dangerous monotone voice.

"No stopping him now." Hughes sighed as he scratched the back of his neck. Havoc joined in the sigh and started to light another one of his cigars. Al and Russell exchanged cunning glances and sneered. Now they know that Winry is somewhere in this town and that only means one other thing; Edward is there as well. Now they knew they have a chance of escaping but they couldn't just wait for Edward to find them, they both had to escape. But what was truly great news was that Alphonse had already broken the chains that binded him, now all he had to do was wait for the perfect opportunity to escape. All he had to do was wait…

…

Wrath took a big bite out of the cotton candy he just bought and let it dissolve in his mouth. He knew he shouldn't have left the booth, since his dad told him not to, but he just couldn't ignore the fun that was happening. This was a once a year festival and he wouldn't want to waste it and besides he needed to find Edward and ask him something important. Taking another bite out of his cotton candy Wrath thought back to when he was traveling the sea with his mother, he owed everything to her from saving him from the ruthless Marines that captured him. Actually he owed a LOT more then his life to her. She saved him from the Marines and the pirates who had branded him as one of them; he would probably be out on the sea living a miserable life if Izumi hadn't saved him.

But the one thing Wrath couldn't understand is why did she save him? He used to be such a spoiled brat who would kill someone without a second thought and yet she cared for him. No, she _loved_ him as if he was her own son. His life was perfect right now but he yearned to be out on the sea again, he longed to sail on the ocean blue and his heart desired the thrill of being around people who cared about him, in other words _shipmates. _And that's why he was going to ask Edward if he could join his crew. He wanted to be a pirate again and sail the seas, like he did with his mother. The only problem was that he was going to leave his mother and father behind. Feeling a bit of sorrow Wrath took another bite out of cotton candy and threw the stick on the ground. Wrath lowered his head a bit then turned it in the direction of a rather big crowd, curiosity set in for him and the urge to see what was going on consumed him. Walking over to the crowd and pushing through the many of people Wrath squeezed through and finally got a clear view of what was so important that everyone was cheering and yelling. When he caught a glimpse his eyes grew wide with immediate amusement.

A raven-haired man and a big muscular man were fighting like crazy. Wrath smiled at this, he couldn't understand it but seeing people fight always made him feel happy. It also made him want to fight himself. From the look and physical appearances of the fighters it looked as if the raven-haired man was winning. He had a couple of scratches and bruises but nothing serious, heck he seemed to be ignoring his own injuries and focusing on nothing but his opponent, by how that smile on his face looked Wrath could easily tell that he was enjoying the fight and was just playing around with the poor angry man. Almost like a game of cat and mouse. Blood dripped down his arm but it wasn't heavy and a wound couldn't be seen visibly so Wrath couldn't exactly tell where the blood's source was coming from.

The other man on the other hand was completely beaten up. Blood dripped from his head, legs, and chest and he was wobbling from side to side as if his vision was hazy. His fists were raised in a fighting stance as he tried to make a decent punch at his smart ass opponent but every attempt failed and ended in him getting hit by his merciless opponent. The man's face was swollen with pitiful rage and his eyes were narrowed not because of his anger but because they were swollen around the edges. The man was mouthing something at his raven-haired opponent but it only came out in spurts and mixed words, but Wrath could easily tell that the man was cussing foul language. Wrath looked over the crowds and his dark gray eyes grew wide with surprise and relief when he spotted an all too familiar face.

Behind a tall blond man stood a young brunette haired boy, he gazed at the fight and didn't seem too interested in it. Wrath tried to catch Al's attention but then his sights dropped on the chains that Al was restrained in, which were useless now, and immediately Wrath understood that that man in front of Al was holding him down. Another blond was beside Al that Wrath had never seen before but he knew that he was also a prisoner by the chains that were around his wrists. Wrath scuttled out of the crowd and ran as far away as he could.

Now he didn't have a choice but to find Edward. He had to find him and tell him that he found Al, but the only question was: where was he? He walked off with Izumi last time Wrath saw them so where could they be? Wrath's frantic running stopped when he bumped into a tall dark figure, he drifted over to his right side a bit and backed away while trying to keep to his feet. Wrath quickly got back his balance and started to run again but not before saying to the man, "Sorry!" the dark man watched the boy run off and adjusted the black shades that covered his red eyes. He then walked off.

…

Edward bit his lower lip and frowned grimly, his face was down in his hands. "So, that's what happened in Ishval?"

Izumi nodded. "Yes, everything I just told you is the absolute truth. I was there and single handedly witnessed the destruction of that nation." Izumi coughed and clutched her stomach; she let out a small groan and sighed.

For once in his life, Edward was speechless. He hadn't really cared much for learning about another country's history but now knowing what happened to Ishval and what the Flame Pirate did there… it almost sickened him. After a long, uneasy silence between the two, Izumi spoke up and asked; "Now I believe you have questions for me?"

Ed flinched. "Yes I do," he lifted his head and face the black-haired woman, "are the Homunculi still terrorizing this town?"

Izumi shook her head. "No, they left quite a while ago. I imagine they got bored here and set out to find a new island to dictate."

"Why does Wrath still have the red stones?"

"Leftovers, I have plenty more if you want some."

"Wrath doesn't need the stones anymore so why is he still carrying them around?" Edward pressed on; he had to make sure of something. "He's not an official homunculus anymore so why do you give him the red stones?"

Izumi pressed her forehead against her hand and sighed. "It's a just-in-case method. And he mostly carries them around so that you can have them when you visit." Izumi raised her head and smiled warmly at Ed, "Edward that boy completely adores you. You're like an idol to him."

Ed blushed with embarrassment. "Me? An idol? No way, I may tell Wrath a couple of my stories but I would never expect him to look up to me!"

"Well like it or not Edward, he does."

"Okay next question, are you still…"

Patting her stomach Izumi smiled, "Relax, I'm fine. Ever since I settled down I haven't been puking up blood."

"But a retired life doesn't suit you Teacher." Edward said. "I miss it when you pillaged from ships of different kinds and when you went by the name Housewife From Hell." A small snicker snuck into his words.

"Yes well, those days are over Edward. Now I have to-"

"Mother! Edward!" the screaming voice of Wrath shouted while approaching the two with fast paste. Wrath bent over and breathed heavily while trying to get the words he wanted out, "Ed… I… s-saw…" his heavy breathing interrupted in his sentences.

"Wrath, take steady breaths, and what are you doing here? I thought you were-"

"No… Al… saw him…" Wrath gasped for air and stood up straight again.

"Wait, you saw Al?" Edward asked in disbelief, "Where!"

Wrath looked up at Edward and gasped, "I saw him with a tall blond guy where a fight was happening."

"Wait, a fight? Why were you-" Izumi began.

"It was between a big man and a dark-haired man!"

"What did this dark-haired man look like?"

"Um, well he had dark eyes, dark hair, and by how he was dressed he looked like he was a pirate or something."

Edward flinched. It had to be him. It had to be that damn pirate that took his brother. Ed stood up and chuckled bitterly, earning the attention of Izumi and Wrath. "Oh payback will be a too simple word for what I'm going to do to that dirty pirate." Ed's golden eye gleamed with an insane, maniacally spark as a wicked smile grew on his face, "He dared to kidnap the brother of the great Fullmetal Demon and now he must pay the price for it. Lead the way Wrath, I'm going to take Al back."

**Forgive me… but I'm too exhausted to say anything else except…**

**Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed it!**

**Please review!**

**TBC…**


	10. Chapter 10

**Review Time!**

**NykSkyBlue:**** You welcome! I'm always willing to get someone interested in a different band! :3 Thank you for commenting!**

**Awesomenaruto: ****Sorry it took so long… school is beginning to start up again and I've had summer assignments… but thank you!**

**Mysterious-Becci-D: ****Thank you! **

**Okay before you read this chapter I have a couple of things to say. 1. Thank you all for reading this far! 2. I'm introducing something new in the story, it's also from One Piece and the urge to introduce it was too strong! 3. I've also somehow managed to get off plot but I'm going to try to get back on my correct idea. And 4. Hope you all enjoy reading this! **

Chapter 10/ Hellfire Mustang

"Have you given up yet?" Roy asked casually with a disappointed frown on his face. The crowd of people around him were all surprised at the results of the fight, most people were gasping with absolute shock while others were actually a bit scared. The man that once stood bravely up against Mustang now was hanging limply by the hand of the pirate. With little effort Mustang held up the injured man by the collar of his shirt with only one hand, the man stuttered at trying to form a decent sentence but failed at the attempt from the blood that was clotting his throat. His clothes were stained with the blood from his own body and scratches and bruises ravaged his body from head to toe, his eyes still shot hated daggers at Roy but his own anger towards the man that put him in this condition was betrayed by the fear he felt deep in the center of his being. "I'm asking you a question, are you done?" Asked Mustang whose patience was clearly thinning; unlike the man who he'd just faced Roy barely had any injuries on his body. With what little strength he had left the man nodded his head and Roy released his grip on him, dropping him to the ground. "What is your name?" Mustang asked in that same monotone voice.

The man glared up at Mustang and answered, "Stazil."

"Well Stazil, I suggest you learn some decent manners before something like this happens again, and you'd better improve your fighting skills or you'll get your ass kicked again. But do I make myself clear when I say you need manners?" Roy asked staring down at the man with blank eyes. Weakly Stazil nodded and snorted. "Good," Roy smiled, "now why don't you go and enjoy the festival. Just make sure you don't ruin it with that little stunt you tried to pull with me, savvy?" Again Stazil nodded and wobbled to his feet.

"W-who the fuck are you?"

"Ah, ah, ah, watch your language." Mustang quickly said. "My name is of no importance but you may remember me as a man who gave you advice." At that precise moment a bullet flew past Mustang's head and miraculously avoided hitting anyone behind him.

"You're about to be a dead man when I'm finished with you, Captain Bastard!" yelled a highly pissed off voice from above. With wide eyes Roy looked up and saw on the roof of a building a young blond haired teenager with a gun cocked in his left hand. Black eyes turned back into narrow slit ones and an amused smirk caressed Roy's face.

"Ah, short stack, I was wondering when you'd show up!" Shouted Roy with one hand on his hip and the other in a matter-of-factly style. Another bullet flew past him and again avoided injuring anyone.

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU CALLING SMALL!" Edward shouted in an angry frenzy, waving his fist and gun in the air.

"Oh come now, you're wasting your bullets. If you can't shoot me then don't fire!" Roy shouted again. By the time the second bullet flew everyone around them fled the area and began running and screaming in panic, now it was completely empty besides them. Under his breath Roy whispered to his two crewmates, "Get out of here as fast as you can and-" when he turned around to face the two pirates a breath caught in his throat when he found the state they were in. Al who had shockingly gotten out of his restraints held havoc in a chokehold. "Don't try anything okay?" Al whispered into Havoc's ear. Hughes was no better off, he was also held in a chokehold but also had a gun pushed up against the side of his head by a black haired woman. "Who are you?" Hughes struggled to say through the tight grasp. "Me? I'm just a simple housewife who has a score to settle." The woman glared at the surprised Roy and hissed, "So, we meet again Hellfire Mustang. How long has it been since we encountered each other like this?"

Returning back to a grim and disappointed look Roy glared back at the woman and asked, "And you are…"

"I'm the one who's ship you sank into the depths of the ocean!" Izumi shouted clearly furious.

Roy thought for a second then said, "Ah, you're Heart Colored Naninaz aren't you? Look I don't what that woman told you but I swear I didn't-"

"That's not me you moron! My name is Izumi Curtis, I'm-"

"Oh! Izumi, it's been a long time! The last time we saw each other was when I burnt down your ship and sent it to the bottom of the ocean." Roy said with a smile. "So what do I owe to this unexpected reunion?"

Behind the raven-haired captain Edward jumped down from the building and landed in a crouch position on his two feet. He stood up slowly and glared angrily at the captain, he cocked his gun and pointed it at Roy and growled, "You bastard, you dare to steal my brother and then try to sell him and me crewmates as slaves, and you still thought you could get away with this?"

"As a matter of fact I did, and who told you I was going to sell them as slaves?"

"I did." Izumi sneered, "When Edward told me the conditions you were in, it came to my attention that you would have to stop here for rest and also Dublith is secretly known as a slave trade route, but it isn't just a simple route, it's the largest most productive route in the whole east side."

Roy blinked. "Oh, hm? Well this is a problem." He turned back to Ed and asked, "So what do you plan to do with me?"

"Why, kill you of course. And then take back me stolen crewmembers." Ed smirked with a wild look in his eye. "Those who come across me and take my brother don't deserve to live." Slowly he took a step forward but stopped instantly when Roy's smile suddenly became deadly.

"Are you sure you aren't going to kill me just because I know your little secret?" Edward's eye snapped wide, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh, I'm talking about the secret where you committed human transmutation, I'm actually surprised you survived it no human has managed to survive… but then again you're not human anymore." The smile then grew mischievous and cunning at the sight of Ed's shocked expression, "I understand now why they call you the Fullmetal Demon. Quite ironic actually." Roy finished with a victory laugh and fell completely unaware that in a fit of rage Ed was running towards him with his automail already transmuted into a sharp dagger. Mustang blinked as sudden awareness took over and quickly put on his gloves, he snapped and fire exploded in front of him but in a surprising turn Edward ran through the fire and slashed at both of Roy's gloves. The transmutation circles on the gloves were torn and were now useless.

"You bastard!" Edward spat as the flames that were on him extinguished and left small burns on his skin. "Now die!" he cried out while launching himself back at Mustang with a vengeance. His dagger was pulled back and prepared to pierce the heart of the captain.

Mustang gasped and stared at the torn gloves for a second but then a smirk crept across his face. He stood his ground and put his hands in his pockets. "Tell me Edward, have you ever heard of Devils Fruit?"

Izumi flinched at hearing what Roy had just said and automatically yelled to Edward, "Ed! Get away from him!"

_Too late._

…

Meanwhile Russell and Wrath were running to Roy's ship to get the rest of the crewmates that were taken prisoner. Luckily everyone was busy back there so Wrath could sneak Russell away to tell him where the other cap tees were. But the only question was how were the two of them going to get the rest of them off the ship? Surely there would be guards and right now neither of them had any weapons to protect themselves. So then how could they…

Suddenly Russell bumped into a young blond woman and the both of them fell to the ground. The young woman moaned and spat, "Hey, watch where you're going!" she rubbed the back of head and got a clear vision of who knocked her down. "Russell!" she then stood up and looked at the young boy beside Russell, "And Wrath, what are you two doing here?"

"No time for talk Winry! We need to get everyone else away from here quickly! Do you have anything that we could use as weapons!" Russell said frantically while standing up straight. Winry stood up and picked up her bags that she dropped, she looked in them and rustled inside of them.

"As a matter of fact I do. I have to admit that guy I stole from had a lot of money, he had enough for me to buy a couple of new tools, supplies, some gifts and…" She pulled out two swords and three silver guns, "Some new weapons. Not to mention I have a little surprise for Ed and Al." she handed the weapons to Wrath and Russell and asked, "So where do you plan on going exactly with these?"

Russell took the swords and Wrath took the guns, holding both of them in his hands and keeping the third one in his side pocket. "We're going to go rescue our shipmates from Mustang's ship!" Russell said while handling the swords. "These are made of good material, where did you get them?"

"From a little store not far from here, but what do you mean by go rescue?" Winry asked. "No time to explain but right now we have to hurry! Go back to the ship Winry and get some help!" Before Winry could ask anything else Russell and Wrath ran off.

"Honestly." Winry sighed. She then ran off to the small boat she and Ed had come in.

…

Edward fell backwards howling in pain and slapped his hand to the right side of his face where the fire that suddenly appeared burnt him. Edward stumbled to his knees and held his face while moaning in agony; he closed his right eye and screamed one more time. Izumi and Al gasped in horror at the change of events, while Havoc and Hughes sighed. "Is it necessary to go this far Captain?" Hughes asked.

Mustang ignored the question and looked down on Edward. "So what were you saying about killing me? Because I don't see that happening." He walked over to Edward and sneered at him. "So I take it you've never heard of Devils fruit, well then I would explain it to you but that would be a waste of time." He held up his hand where a flame had appeared in the center of his palm, "Now just relax, this will be over quickly."

But suddenly Al released Havoc from his grip and pushed Roy away from his brother. He crouched down by his side and in a panicked tone asked, "Brother are you okay?"

Edward groaned and slowly let his hands fall to his knees. Al gasped at how badly burnt the right side of Ed's face had become, it was a bit blackish and small twinkles of blood were falling from the exposed, raw skin that was threatening to flake off. Edward looked at his brother and quickly asked, "Are you okay Al?"

"Don't worry about me I'm fine!" Alphonse shouted while helping his brother up to his feet. "Its you who you need to worry about." Slowly they walked together but were stopped when Mustang snapped his fingers and sent flames in their way. Al glared at the persistent Captain but that only made Mustang laugh.

"Oh come now, don't look at me that way." Mustang sneered, getting to his feet and straightening his back. "This will be over quickly." He held up his hand and prepared to snap but before he could get the chance Izumi pointed her gun at Mustang and fired, shooting him clear in the head. With wide eyes and a gasp Mustang fell to his knees and collapsed on the ground.

"Teacher! You got him!" Al announced but was soon confused by her grim and disappointed face. Her brow was furrowed and her grip on the man she held captive was released, her dark eyes stared at the lifeless body of Roy Mustang as if attracted by electricity. "Teacher?" Al stuttered in a confused and uncertain voice.

"You think so?" the raspy yet clear voice of Roy rang. Slowly he got to his feet and grunted.

"Putting on a performance are we?" Izumi sneered.

"Well, from time to time I like to play dead but the heavy truth that remains," He opened his palm and revealed the bullet that had once shot him, "is that I don't go down so easily."

"H-how did he…" Al stuttered. Edward carefully looked up at the situation that was unfolding, his eye narrowed to a golden slit as his eye patch slowly came off his face and floated to the ground. The right side of his face was still stinging from the burn.

"How did I survive a shot to the head? You might ask. Well its quite simple really." A smirk grew on Roy's face as he held up his hands and revealed a small flame in the palm of each of them, the flames then crept up his arms and stopped at his shoulders, the flames remained there and gave his features and illuminated extra effect. Ed and Al stared surprised and dumbfounded at the fire that was on the man and yet didn't burn him. "This is the power of the Devil Fruit I ate." The flames then began to run up and down his body and soon consumed him in fire but that fierce smirk on Roy's face did not falter, "This is the power of the Flame-Flame Fruit."

**Yep, I'm letting Devil's Fruits into the story, the only reason why I did was because of two things:**

** 1. I like how I match up the fruits with the character's personas.**

**2. Because I think its cool and I sort of wanted to! :3**

** But I hope this won't change how you all think of the story! Anyways, **

**Thank you for reading!**

**Please review so you can tell me what you think!**

**And FMA and One Piece do not belong to me!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Review Time!**

**NykSkyBlue: Thank you, I hope you like this chapter!**

**BlackWolf2Dragoon: I was going to explain what the Devil Fruits were anyways; I don't leave readers hanging without info. And I thought a crossover was when you cross over characters between shows… and btw, no way can Mustang die! He's way to epic and awesome to die! Thanks btw!**

**Mysterious-Becci-D: Thank you and I like sinister… sinister is an awesome word, right next to madness. **

**MiniskirtRanger: Relax; I won't turn this into One Piece… FMA characters just don't mix with the One Piece plot, if there is a plot to it. Do you mean England from Hetalia? If so then… SOMEONE GRAB HIM! Lol :3**

**I don't own FMA or any One Piece references and what not!**

**A/N: A quick reader's note for all to read, I don't plan on turning this fanfic into a One Piece plotline, it wouldn't be very exciting if I did but I will tell all of you what I plan on using from One Piece to this story:**

** Fruits**

**2. Grand Line**

**3. The treasure One Piece**

**4. And a couple of islands that are in the Grand Line**

**5. But I won't be putting any characters from One Piece into the story.**

**Anyways…**

**Chapter 11/ Flames**

_ "You think so?" the raspy yet clear voice of Roy rang. Slowly he got to his feet and grunted._

_ "Putting on a performance are we?" Izumi sneered._

_ "Well, from time to time I like to play dead but the heavy truth that remains," He opened his palm and revealed the bullet that had once shot him, "is that I don't go down so easily."_

_ "H-how did he…" Al stuttered. Edward carefully looked up at the situation that was unfolding, his eye narrowed to a golden slit as his eye patch slowly came off his face and floated to the ground. The right side of his face was still stinging from the burn._

_ "How did I survive a shot to the head? You might ask. Well its quite simple really." A smirk grew on Roy's face as he held up his hands and revealed a small flame in the palm of each of them, the flames then crept up his arms and stopped at his shoulders, the flames remained there and gave his features and illuminated extra effect. Ed and Al stared surprised and dumbfounded at the fire that was on the man and yet didn't burn him. "This is the power of the Devil Fruit I ate." The flames then began to run up and down his body and soon consumed him in fire but that fierce smirk on Roy's face did not falter, "This is the power of the Flame-Flame Fruit."_

"Devil Fruit? What are-" Al began but was interrupted by Izumi.

"They're supernatural fruits that gives the user who eats them a different power of some sort," Izumi sighed, "but the price for attaining such a power is high, whoever eats of it cannot swim. The user sinks to the bottom of the sea like an anchor." Roy snorted. "There are many different types of Devil Fruits in the world such as the Paramecia type which gives the user superhuman physical abilities or powers, the Zoan type which transform the user into an animal with the abilities of that said animal, and then finally the Logia types which gives the user the ability to transform into an element and practically makes them intangible or even indestructible but it depends on the type of Logia Fruit eaten." She pointed to Roy and finished, "And that's the type he is, he's a logia user."

"So you ate a forbidden fruit just for the sake of power?" Edward hissed with disgust in his voice. He whipped himself out of Al's grip and stood up straight, the burn on his face had healed some time ago and his left eye, where his eye patch was, was shut tightly in anger. Ed faced Mustang and spat, "You disgust me, you stone-cold bastard." Without a second thought Edward lunged at the pirate snarling in frustration.

Mustang smirked and didn't move. He saw that the young pirate was about to throw a punch at him but he still refused to block it, it was time to show them just how powerful he was. Edward rocketed his fist at Roy's face but to his shock and disbelief the fist passed through the right side of Roy's face, which made an even bigger smirk rise. Edward stared confused into the one dark eye that was showing, his hand was still in his face. A chuckle escaped his lips as Roy's entire body was consumed in flames and then converted into flames itself, where Roy Mustang once stood was now replaced by bright fire. Edward yanked his hand back from the flames and hissed, if he had known that the bastard was going to do that he would've attacked with his automail arm instead of his flesh one. The fire then began to reshape into the form of Roy Mustang, the smirk, his clothes, and flesh were back in a normal state. "Haven't you figured it out yet?" Roy asked with a conceited smile upon his features, "You can't touch fire without getting burned!"

That wild look in Roy's eyes returned and without hesitating he snapped his fingers and sent an explosion of fire hurling towards the young pirate. Edward jumped out of the way just in time and landed next to his brother. Ed scowled and put his hand to his face; with a grunt of frustration he arched his back and prepared to attack the raven-haired captain again, but just as he was about to pounce at him an object of some sort blocked his path. Confusion blinded the blond for a second when a dark hand slammed into his face and held it with a firm grip, then the instinct of danger kicked in. Ed automatically raised his leg and knocked the hand away from him, taking a step back he got a full glimpse of who dared to grab him. A dark skinned man who was wearing a black, long coat with a black shirt and black pants, with a white stripe running down it, was standing directly in front of him, his eyes were covered by dark shades. A frown was planted on his face where a rather revealing scar was. "You're the Fullmetal Demon correct?"

Ed scoffed, "Who's asking!" he said furiously. The man raised his hand and said, "The hand of God." He launched the hand down on Edward and attempted to grab at his head but luckily Ed saw that move coming and dodged it just in time. Mustang let his smile drop to a frown, "Look, I don't know who you are but you can't-" Scar whipped his hand around and targeted Roy this time, Roy transformed into fire again and moved away from the mysterious man and stood in between Havoc and Hughes. He formed back into his normal attire and scowled at the man, "Who the hell are you?"

Scar turned to look at the angry pirate and answered, "I have no name but I go by Scar," he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a silver gun, "And I'm here for your head Hellfire Mustang." He aimed the pistol at the pirate and swiftly turned to Edward, "As well as yours Fullmetal Demon."

"Hm? My head? Are you a bounty hunter or something?" Ed asked.

"You could say that but I really don't care about how much money is on your head. I'm surprised you've haven't heard of me." Scar said in a monotone voice.

Suddenly flames came towards Scar's way but he quickly out maneuvered them and moved away. Roy glared at Scar and snapped again, this time sending a blaze of fire toward the man. Scar remained still for a second then blocked the coming flames with what looked like to be his… hand? The flames dispersed and Roy's angry face became visible, he let his arm drop to his side as he glared intensely at Scar. A moment of sick silence surrounded the two of them until Roy broke it with saying, "We're leaving." His voice had turned hard and cold.

"But Captain-" Havoc started.

"I said we're leaving." Mustang said more firmly though he never took his gaze off Scar. "I have no further business on this island." He raised his hands, clapped them and then spread them apart, a flash of bright light as blinding as a solar flare erupted from him. Everyone who had seen it was now blinded by everyone else around them, for half a minute the light stayed at it's brightest and finally dimmed down. Ed rubbed his eye as dancing, colorful lights halted his vision, the lights vanished and with a gasp he saw that Mustang and his two crewmates had fled. He cursed under his breath but then realized that he still had this bounty hunter or whatever he was to deal with, he turned to the dark-skinned man and growled. "You still intend on taking me?"

Scar stayed looking at the spot where Mustang use to be but then glared at Ed; he scowled and lunged at him hardly giving Edward enough time to dodge. The two began to attack each other, Ed yelled out to Al and Izumi while dodging countless blows, "Go down to the docks and you'll a boat where me and Winry came in, she should be there waiting for me! Go!"

"Ed, I can't leave you!" Al shouted back but only got a snarl of words from Ed, "GO NOW!" Izumi took Al's shoulder and nodded at him, Al stared fiercely into her eyes then toughly nodded to her. The both of them ran off, leaving Ed and Scar alone. Edward looked Scar straight in the eyes and smirked, "And now that we're alone…" Ed took hold of his sword and unsheathed it, his fangs sharpened a bit and with a grunt his fingernails grew long and sharp. The smirk grew wider and Ed opened his left eye, it glowed that same inhuman golden and held a wild and insane gleam. "I can finally fight for real this time." He took a step forward and pounced at Scar; the sword narrowly hit Scar who had jumped back and away from the blond.

Scar refluxed his hand and charged at Ed with full force, Ed swung his sword at Scar but to his surprise it was easily caught in his hand, blood spluttered in Ed's face as alchemic sparks flowed down his sword and shattered it into miniscule pieces of metal. Ed tossed the useless sword away and swung Scar with his claws instead. He swung and swung furiously at Scar but was missing every blow; his claws were only making small scratches and scrapes. "Is that all you got?" Scar asked with little amusement.

Edward snickered and jumped away, "Not really, I was just buying some time." Ed clapped his hands and slammed them on the ground, jagged, sharp rocks sprouted from under Scar's feet and the ground split open. Rocks flew and dust came to be from the cracking ground, Scar covered his mouth and nose to keep from inhaling the foreign dust cloud, he cursed under his breath when the cackling laughter of Edward sounded through the air. It eventually vanished. The dust cloud condensed and disappeared and Scar grunted when he saw that the blond had ran off. Though he had a pretty good idea of where he went…

…

Out of everything that has happened up to this point Roy was pissed off with the intrusion he had just faced. He had no time to waste on some damn bounty hunter and especially didn't have the patience to deal with that runt again. His clenched fists were at his side and his feet stomped against the ground while he was walking back to his ship, he had to leave Dublith now. He didn't want to but right now he had to, and of course he had to do the one possible thing that he dreaded on doing…

"Oh Captain, back already?" Fury shouted to the coming Mustang, Havoc, and Hughes. Roy looked at him with a scowl, that didn't mean much to Fury; it obviously told him that his captain was in a terrible mood again. Fury quickly saluted Roy when he stormed past him and onto his ship; Fury followed after him and said, "Sir, we found intruders snooping around the ship when you were gone."

Intruders? "Who are they?" Roy asked with a little bit of interest.

"Well one is a prisoner we've previously had and the other is a young boy." Fury answered.

Roy chuckled. When on deck he got a full view of who those intruders were, it was that same teen he had accommodated- Russell was his name wasn't it?- and the other was a young boy with black wild hair. "Well, well, glad to see you again." Roy joked with a stern look on his face.

Russell growled in response. "And you are?" Roy asked Wrath. "As if I'd tell you!" Wrath yelled in absolute fury while thrashing around in the chains that bounded him. Roy chuckled again then turned to Armstrong, "Where are the other three?"

"Down in the barracks sir."

"Good now get them and keep them on the deck." Mustang ordered much to everyone's surprise. "Now, everyone to there stations and prepare to sail! We're leaving Dublith!"

"Aye Captain!" They all shouted.

…

"…Where the hell is that boat Ed was talking about." Izumi stuttered while staring at the empty ocean water. She stood at the edge of the dock with her arms crossed furiously across her chest.

"More importantly, where's Winry?" Al said as he looked in the distance of the open ocean. "Or where's Ed's ship? I know he has to hide it but still…"

"If I had to guess I would say she took the boat and headed back to the ship, wherever it is." Izumi shrugged. "I guess we'll have to go and get a-"

"GET DOWN!"

Al and Izumi cringed when they heard Ed's booming voice from behind them. They both turned around and saw the little blond running towards them in a frenzy, before they knew it Ed was already too close to them. His arms wrapped around their sides as he jumped from the dock and into midair. "Edward!" A startled Izumi and Al shouted frantically. Ed didn't pay any attention to the shouts; he focused only on the rising pain that was centered on his shoulder blades. He narrowed his eyes as the pain increased and something started to protrude from his skin, a ripping and tearing sound echoed in their ears as two black, leathery wings burst from Ed's shoulder blades in a spray of hot blood. Ed winced at the pain and quickly flapped his new wings to avoid plummeting into the sea, despite the throbs of pain that surged throughout his body. He flapped and flapped until he was high enough from the sea and as far away from the docks as possible. "Sorry if I scared you two." Ed apologized with a fang filled smile.

"You imbecile! Can't you ever think before you act!" Izumi yelled while smacking Ed on his head. "Or at least warn us!"

"Ow… sorry Teacher…" Ed moaned as he flapped his wings again.

"Brother, we're heading back to the ship right?" Al asked as he gazed down at the flowing ocean. Ed nodded. "You think Winry is there?" Ed nodded again.

"She probably is, I told her that I was leaving in six hours without her if she wasn't back at the boat. I guess she left without me when I wasn't there." Ed snickered to himself. He flew over Yock Island and eased down to where his ship was, lightly he glided down to the ship and landed carefully on the deck. He released Al and his teacher from his grip and looked to the shocked crewmates who had just seen their captain fly in unexpectedly. "All hands to stations! Ready the cannons! Hoist the sails and flag! We're setting off!" Edward shouted orders to his crew while grabbing one of his crewmates and asking, "Where's Winry?"

"In her quarters Captain Edward!" the man replied.

"Aye." Ed groaned. He let go of the man and turned back to Al and Izumi, his wings were folded back and a frown was implanted on his face, "I'm going to get Wrath and my shipmates back, and no hot heated airhead is going to stop me." He walked away and went to the edge. His ship was already beginning to sail away from the dock and with that wind blew through his golden hair. He raised his automail arm and covered his left eye; he had completely forgotten that his eye patch was gone…

…

In a strange turn of events Roy had ordered his crew to take all the prisoners out on the deck. What he was planning, no one really knew but one thing was for certain as soon as he was done doing whatever he was going to do, they all had to get away from the island. Once the prisoners were on the deck Roy instructed all of them to the sides of his ship, of course he had to threaten them to move though.

Lyra, Russell, Fletcher, Vale, and Wrath stood close to each other and stared helpless as the raven-haired captain who stood three feet away from them. Roy stared intently at them then took a step back he smirked and held out his right hand.

"Send my regards to the pipsqueak." He said and snapped his fingers. Flames came surging at the small group and danced around their feet, it flared in front of them and sprang unbelievable heat in their faces. The surprise fire made them all jumped back in shock but unfortunately they all jumped off the ship. Roy grinned and watched the flames disperse; he walked over to the edge and saw all five kids fall into the ocean. He heard them yell curses and insults at him but he shouted back to them saying, "Enjoy your freedom!" With that said he turned to Havoc, who was at the helm of his ship and ordered, "Set sail to Central, Sailing Master."

"Captain, don't you think that was a little extreme for you to-" Havoc began.

"They were beginning to become a pain in my ass if I kept them any longer and besides I wouldn't want them to come to Central with us." Roy frowned again and announced to his crew, "We'll be spending a week in Central and then after that we're heading to the Grand Line!"

**Ya, ya I know its short and terrible. Sorry, school's been distracting me… so sorry! At least I updated but still sorry!**

**Hope you all liked the chapter!**

**Please Review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12/ A Goodbye Worth Saying**

"What the bloody hell?" Edward cursed with absolute lividness.

"Ya, he just let us go." Russell explained, "And he says he sends his regards to you." He was soaked to his skin when Ed and the rest of his crew had found them out on the sea. Edward was completely livid, not only had that bastard captain gotten away but he also humiliated him in the most cowardly of ways.

"Mommy!" Wrath cried out as he ran to Izumi. He embraced his mother as she returned it with one of her own, even though he was still wet she didn't care.

Ed watched contently as the two had their reunion but his scowl didn't change. "Damn that bastard…" he grumbled as his fangs clenched tightly, "I'll make him pay for what he's done… no one humiliates the Fullmetal Demon and gets away with it!" unknowingly he outstretched his bulky, leather wings and knocked out one of his crewmembers.

"Captain, if I may," Lyra said as she approached Edward humbly, "If my ears deceive me I believe he was saying that he was going to a place called Central…"

"Central?" Edward had heard of that city it was actually quite popular up in the northern sea. Casinos, a main trading stock, military enforcements, and of course its practically a city where dreams come true and the rich go to get richer, the perfect place for a pirate to jack from! Of course it would be if it weren't a military and marines infested trap. All around the border of Central were soldiers and E level Marines trained to keep dirty pirates out of their luxurious city. "Why the hell would that idiot go there?" Edward asked no one in particular.

"To get supplies maybe?" Wrath spoke up as he let go of his mother and turned to Edward.

"No, he could do that anywhere…" Then reality caught up to Ed he turned to look at Izumi and said, "Oh I almost forgot, we'll drop you and Wrath off at the port then we have to head out immediately."

"Aw, do you have to leave Ed?" Wrath whined.

"Yes we have to. Sorry I didn't stay for long." Edward sadly said as he patted Wrath's head.

"Then can I come with you!" Wrath shouted as he pushed himself out of Ed's grip. "I want to be part of your crew!"

This took Ed by surprise. His eyes went wide and his lips curled into a frown. "You can't lad." He said softly, "Your place is here with your mother, not out in the sea where the sharks will eat you alive."

"But Ed-"

"No buts!" Edward snapped, "Where we're headed is no place for a lad like you and frankly you would just slow us down. You're too boney Wrath and most likely you would piss yourself as soon as we get where we're going." Ed chuckled as he took Wrath by his shoulder and bent down to his level of height. "And besides your mother and father need you, they both love and care for you and would you repay them by getting yourself killed out on the sea?"

Wrath thought about this for a second then frowned, he knew that Edward was right but still… he wanted to be a pirate again. The desire to sail out on the sea again was strong but he still had no will to leave Izumi, he didn't want to leave her. "But Ed… I still,"

"Well then I guess it cant be helped." Izumi spoke up as she pushed Wrath into Ed's arms causing the both of them to fall on the floor.

"Ow! Mother…" Wrath groaned as he rubbed his head and pushed himself to get off of Ed's chest. "Why did you do that?"

"If I'm going to let you stay with my idiot student then I'll need his word that he'll protect you." She calmly said.

"Teacher?" Edward dizzyingly said as Izumi hoisted him up by the collar on his suit and pulled his face into hers.

"Listen carefully Edward, I don't want to see a scratch on Wrath when he comes home. If I see a scratch I'm going to punch you, if I see a scar I'm going to send you into a coma, if I see a limb missing I'm going to beat you half to death, but if he's dead…" Izumi pulled Ed closer into her face, glared straight into Ed's eyes and clenched her fist tightly.

Edward swallowed and shivered, "Don't worry Teacher," he said trying to sound assuring but fear was at its highest point in him, "I wont let anything happen to him."

"You had better not because I know where you're going Edward." She sighed and slowly put the blond pirate down and back on his feet. She stared sadly into his eyes, all furiosity gone and slowly said, "You're going to the Grand Line, aren't you?"

Everything fell silent. Edward slightly lowered his head and nodded. She didn't want it to be true but she knew that there was no changing Ed's mind once he's decided on a destination. She looked sadly down on the boy and sighed, "Edward, the Grand Line is no joke, its no laughing matter. Pirates for years have gone into the Grand Line and some have never come back victorious, if they do come back then they would either be scarred with fear or are missing a few limbs. If you go down there then there's no guarantee of you coming back… _alive._"

Edward remained silent. His crew started to mumble with uncertainty behind him while Al walked up to the side of Edward and stayed put. "Teacher, have you forgotten?" his voice rose as his head lifted and a fang filled smirk grew on his face. "I'm the great Fullmetal Demon. The infamous captain that has destroyed a whole Marines base, the one who has faced a hundred chimeras and survived and of course I'm the one who will find One Piece before any other man will get the chance to see it."

"You're also the smallest captain in history so that's got to count for something." Wrath chuckled as a vein on Ed's forehead popped.

"DON'T CALL ME SMALL! I'LL RIP OFF YOUR FEET AND STICK THEM ON YOUR HEAD!" Ed ward fumed while Al quickly restrained Ed from hurting anyone. (A/N: Would've made up a rant but since this is meh favorite one… ^^)

"Brother, please…" Al sighed with a twitchy smile while everyone on the ship started to laugh.

Izumi quieted down her laughter and sighed, "Ed, I need your full word on this, will you protect Wrath for me?"

Al released Edward and he stared completely into his teacher's eyes. He gave his whole being into this stare and said confident fully, "I promise that I'll protect him, Teacher."

Izumi and Ed fell silent with their eyes still locked together. Suddenly Izumi sighed and nodded her head, giving a silent approval. Wrath's face lit up with happiness and Ed and Al smiled. Edward grabbed Wrath by his wrist pulled it up and turned to the rest of his crew. "We have a new member joining me crew today! Let me introduce, Wrath Curtis!" Ed's crew cheered and yelled in excitement. They clapped, jumped about, and shouted words of congratulations to him. "Welcome to me crew, lad." Edward said with a warm smile.

"Edward," Izumi softly said, "when will you be leaving?" her face wasn't showing it but Ed could obviously tell that she was sad about she and Wrath's parting.

"We'll be leaving tomorrow morning." Edward said quietly then added, "If you want time to spend with Wrath then make it right at this moment, but come tomorrow morning if neither of you are at the docks by sunrise then I'll have no choice but to leave the both of you." Suddenly Al collapsed on his knees and coughed violently. He clutched his side with one hand and with his other hand covered his mouth. Edward immediately fell to Al's side and wrapped his arm as well as his wing around him; Al's body shook with strain as the coughing fit racked him. "C'mon Al, it'll be okay… Hey! Someone get my bed ready and get Marcoh, he needs to have a look at Al." Ed picked Al's shaking body up and carried him down the steps to his quarters but before he vanished from Izumi and Wrath's sight he said, "Remember, tomorrow morning. Be there or be left." And he vanished from their sights.

Izumi looked down at Wrath and said, "Let's go home for tonight." She outstretched her hand and Wrath took it instantly, they both exited the ship and walked away.

…

Later on that night Winry had come out of her own quarters and walked about the ship. Everyone was sleeping and she had unexpectedly walked into Ed's room, she didn't count on seeing a sleeping Al in Ed's bed instead of Edward himself. She stared at Al for a second then touched his forehead, he was fever stricken and his body was trembling abnormally. She hated to see Al in this condition, it just reminded her that Al's days were numbering and his end was coming faster than it should be. Unknowingly her face was coming closer to Al's feverish one, she stared worriedly at him for a while then slowly just slowly her lips were coming closer to his forehead but before they could touch, a low scream was heard above her. She pulled back then ran upstairs and looked around, a moaning entered her ears as she found out it was coming from the top of the sip where the helm was. She climbed up the stairs and gasped when she saw Ed withering in pain on the floor.

His face was contorted in pain and fangs were clenched tight as small gasps and breaths slid past him. His body was convulsing with undeniable strain and on his back his wings were trying to shrink back into his shin, Edward's eyes shut tightly as he suppressed another scream as the wings trembled when they finally shrunk back into Ed's skin. Edward slowly pushed himself to stand up on his two feet but was finding it harder to do so then he thought, he groaned and turned his head not expecting to see a shocked Winry staring at him in horror. "Winry…"

"Ed…" Winry stuttered in surprise when she found her voice. She found her arms around him when she said, "Ed, please don't…"

"I'm okay, Winry. I'm okay." Edward assured her. He sat up a bit straighter and exhaled.

"What's wrong Ed?" Winry asked releasing herself from him and sitting next to him.

"It's nothing." Edward assured her further.

"Don't give me that crap, Ed!" Winry shouted. "I know something's wrong so why don't you just tell me!"

"…"

"Please tell me Ed."

"…"

"… Please, Ed. You don't have to shoulder this alone." Her eyes started to water slightly.

"… I'm losing it Winry." Edward sadly said.

"Huh?" Winry asked through sad confusion.

"I'm losing what's left of me." Edward said sadly through sorrow filled golden eyes, "It's getting harder for me to transform back into my human form and I'm craving… humans more often than I should… Winry, I'm losing what little humanity I have left."

Winry was shocked. Her hands went to her mouth and blue eyes went wide with sadness, "No, Ed you can't… what about your crew? What about Wrath? What about Al!" _What about me? What will I do without you here? _"I can't lose the both of you! I just can't!"

"And you won't." Edward said with his full voice, "I promised that I would find One Piece and fix everything that has happened. I'm going to cure Al, and if there's a chance… I'll take back my humanity."

Winry stared at Ed for a second. She sighed and reached down into her pocket, "Here. I bought you and Al this in Dublith." She tossed him a small, present like red box and smiled lightly.

Edward caught the box and opened it cautiously, he unwrapped the bow that was on it, opened the lid and took out what was held in the box. To his surprise it was two necklaces, both of them were made out of pure silver that glistened in the light of the moon but what made Ed really excited about the necklace was that it was shaped in the sign of the flamel. The snake, the wings everything of the flamel was on it. "Thank, Winry."

"It's a matching set, the other one is for Al." She scanned over Ed's body and frowned, "Your clothes are too dirty and torn to shreds… you'd better thank me for this, I bought you a new wardrobe. Seeing how busy you probably were today."

Ed's eyes grew wide. "Really?"

…

"… Wrath, are you positive about this?" Sig asked as he tucked his son in his bed.

"I am Dad." Wrath said with excitement. He wriggled and squirmed excitedly in his bed.

"Alright then, I won't try to change your mind but remember that I do and will always love you." He patted Wrath on the head and left the room, leaving Izumi and Wrath alone.

"Wrath." Izumi said quietly.

"Yes Mother?"

"Remember when I first rescued you from the Marines?" Izumi asked and Wrath nodded, he wondered where this was going? "You kept screaming and kicking for me to let you down and eventually I had to knock you out just to get some quietness on my ship. You whined and whined for three straight days shouting that you would kill everyone on my ship, I approached you when you said that and asked you specifically, '_Why haven't you already_?' Do you remember what you said afterwards?"

Wrath thought about this for a second then slowly opened his mouth, "I said '_Because I'm choosing to wait_…'"

"_Wait for what?" _Izumi asked.

"_For the homunculi to come for me, when they do they'll kill everyone here for me." _Wrath sadly answered.

"_Why didn't they come for you when you were held captured by the Marines?"_

_ "Because they…" _ Wrath fell silent.

"_Because what?"_

_ "…"_

"_They abandoned you didn't they?" _

_ "No! I'm a homunculus and homunculi don't aboadaned each other!" _Wrath furiously shouted although tears were forming in his cheek.

"_Then where are they? I see not a single ship in plain view, where are your so called homunculi friends?" _

_ "… They'll… they…" _Wrath looked down to hide his face, "_They'll find someone else to replace me."_

_ "That's what I expected from a homunculus, once you're of no use they throw you out and leave you to die." _Izumi said sadly with disgust. Wrath was shivering with a mixture of rage and sorrow that feeling with the homunculi surrendered him over to the Marines was terrible. All the memories of that day came back as a freshly reopened wound; Envy's laugh… Sloth's shunning… Dante calling him an ungrateful child… and Father… he just stared at him with cold angry eyes. Those eyes burrowed into him and it hurt so damn much when they left him. Wrath wrapped his arms around himself and shivered, it got so cold all of a sudden.

"The sea is amazing isn't it?" Izumi asked as she wrapped her arms around Wrath and embraced his shivering body. "No matter which direction you turn in you'll always see that all blue color, anyone who would look to the sea would probably think that its just a miserable ocean where you can be stranded but no – you can see everything if you have someone to guide you." Izumi closed her eyes and embraced the boy a little tight, sharing her warmth with him and allowing it to transfer into his body. "That's what I said to you on that day. Do you still believe me when I say that?"

Wrath couldn't answer. Tears were busy streaming down his face and sobs were ravaging his body he hugged Izumi tightly and cried into her shoulder. The two of them eventually fell asleep together wrapped up in each other's arms.

…

"Aye!" Cried Edward as he stretched out his body and yawned, "Where the hell are they! I don't have all day to wait!"

"Have some patience, Captain." Marcoh said as he walked up the stairs from checking on Alphonse, "We still have five more minutes until departure."

"And that's five minutes I could've had getting us to the Grand Line!" Edward barked purely frustrated. He slowly calmed his nerves and cried out to his Sailing Master and crew, "Everyone to your stations, we're leaving immediately! Aarush, man the helm with great speed, the last thing I want is to get seen by a civilian…" Of course Ed wanted to leave Dublith as quickly as he could, his ship was in open area and if one person saw him… well a massive panic would occur and that's the last thing he wanted. "I guess the lad ain't coming." Edward said quietly to himself. He looked back to the dock and frowned, guess Wrath decided to stay but he could've at least said goodbye…

"WAIT!" A voice called out. Edward turned his head to the dock and smiled. Running in their direction was Izumi, Sig, and Wrath.

"Oi!" Ed called out and waved his hand. He thought that Wrath would come aboard but then realization slapped him in the face, his ship was already a yard away from the docks and there was no way that he was turning around again. He looked sadly at the running family then gasped, Izumi and Sig had stopped running and were now at the edge of the docks but Wrath had not. Instead he had jumped off the docks and was now in mid air hoping that he would land on Ed's ship.

Wrath's arm outstretched as he found out that he was falling and grabbed the side of the ship. He hung loosely by one hand as his grip started to loosen, Ed began to run towards the youth but was instead outran by the sudden appearance of a certain brunette haired boy. Al grabbed Wrath by his arm, hoisted him up and put him on the deck of the ship. "That was a close call, eh?" Al wheezed while his back arched.

Wrath thanked Al then turned back to his shrinking Mom and Dad. The ship was getting farther and farther away from them… Wrath felt the tears pile up in his eyes and let them roam freely, he sobbed as his shoulders shuddered. Then he inhaled a deep breath and shouted, "Thank you for everything you've done for me! I'll never forget either of you and I love you both!"

"We love you too Son!" Sig boomed with all his voice, trying to hold back tears of his own.

"Take care of yourself, Wrath! And always remember that no matter what I love you!" Izumi shouted then glared at Ed and Al sending a cold shiver down their spines, "Take good care of each other, boys! And Ed keep your promise and you Al… make sure to keep your brother in line!"

Both brothers smiled and waved their hands in the air. "Thank you and goodbye, Teacher!" they both said at the exact same time.

"Goodbye Dad… Goodbye Mom!" Wrath shouted as the tears blocked his voice and the distance grew between them.

"Goodbye Wrath!" Izumi shouted as her own tears fell down her face. "Take good care of yourself…" she said silently as the ship became to far away to communicate anymore. "Goodbye… Son…"

Wrath wiped away his tears and smiled. He turned to Ed and said, "Nice outfit, Ed." He sniffled a bit and wiped his face some more.

"Oh thank you." He quickly looked over himself and smiled. A dark red coat hung from his shoulders, black dark boots were planted on his feet, and dark leather pants were on his lower half. He wasn't wearing a shirt so his upper body was showing mid half from what he coat allowed to be seen, but what hung from his chest was the silver flamel necklace that glistened in the sight of the sun. Edward turned to Aaden and ordered, "Take us to Central, I'm in a good mood and would love to visit Captain Bastard again… I still have to pay him back for humiliating me…" And with that said Edward grinned evilly as Al sighed and said,

"Oh… Brother…"

**Only because I'm in math class typing this, I wont do the reviews this chapter; I'll do them NEXT chapter! **

**Thanks for reading and I hope you all like it!**

**Please review!**


	13. Chapter 13

_(The reviews are at the end of this chapter)_

**Chapter 13: Once Around the Limit and We All Fall Down**

It was already past noon when Mustang's ship reached the crossing point into Amestris's territorial seas. There was no turning back now. Once they crossed the border they had to stay within Amestris area, not because they weren't allowed to leave but because Amestris had multiple water routes in but only one water route out. And of course that route was being heavily guarded by the Marines, of course Roy always found a way to get in and out of Central unnoticed after all him and his crew have been to Central many times before this. Though this would be their final visit before heading out to the Grand Line.

"Lower the flag!" Mustang commanded. Armstrong, who was on the Crow's Nest, saluted Mustang and followed his order. Once the flag was down Roy looked to Havoc and said, "Take us through Erupting Canyon, and be hasty about it."

"Aye, Captain." Havoc mumbled through the cigar that was clenched between his teeth.

"I trust that you won't knock us into any rocks?"

"No Captain." Havoc smirked. He quickly turned the helm to the right as the ship followed the change in course. Erupting Canyon was the only waterway for Roy's ship to go through without being noticed. It wasn't technically called Erupting Canyon but it never had a name to begin with so Roy just named it himself, of course there was a reason he named it Erupting Canyon. Erupting Canyon is a narrow waterway between two mountains that stick out of the Amestrian Seas, the waterway itself is a smooth stream that can be easily sailed but the path is terribly treacherous and risky. The mountain structure was horribly deformed and weak and even the smallest of touches or sounds would cause a massive avalanche from the mountains.

"Then keep moving forward." Mustang grinned. The ship turned more to the right and was sailing along the edges of the mountain, not yet entering into Erupting Canyon. Roy looked along the mountain and sighed, he couldn't exactly remember the last time he had come to Central but the rock formations brought back memories. Bad and good memories. A lump of cold ice formed in the Captain's stomach as he recalled the times when he himself was a Marine. A Marine _Colonel_ to be exact, and he was still climbing in the ranks. If he was correct, he believed he was still 24 years of age before he went AWOL from the Marines and dedicated his life to piracy. Yes… he remembered it all too clearly, the day he left the Marines and fled from Central…

_"What the hell are you thinking, Roy!" Hughes screamed at his friend who was standing over the edge of a cliff. "You can't just leave! The higher-ups will hunt you down for treason if you just go like this! You'll be put to death!" It was dark outside and the light of the moon illuminated the two men._

_ "… Hughes, I can't stay here any longer. I know now that everything I've believed in… everything the Marines told us was a lie." Mustang said sadly with weary eyes. _

_ "You and I both know that's a lie!" Hughes shouted then slightly calmed down and lowered his voice. "Look, I know you're angry about what the Admirals did to your family but this is no time to be making stupid decisions." Taking in a breath Hughes continued, "Roy, this is your lifeline. This is the only job that you have and you're incredibly good at it but what'll happen if you just leave and never come back? Where would you go and how would you survive if you go AWOL?"_

_ "I'm going to become a pirate." Roy said quietly._

_ "A pirate? Are you out of your mind?" Hughes asked his voice rising again._

_ "No I'm clearly sane." Roy said with a sad smile. "But I'm not going to continue to do the Marine's dirty work for them."_

_ "And what will you do when you join piracy?" _

_ "…"_

_ "What are you planning, Roy?"_

_ "… Have you ever heard of that legendary treasure called One Piece? You know, the treasure that belonged to Aarush Z. Silverstar?" Hughes nodded slowly then widened his eyes in absolute shock when he saw Roy's lips curl into a devious, worrying smirk._

_ "God tell me you aren't actually planning on searching for that myth?" Roy replied with a small chuckle to match his grin. "God Roy! What are you thinking? That's only a myth, One Piece hasn't been proven to actually exist and even if it does then why the hell would you go after it? One Piece is said to be lost in the Grand Line and everyone knows that's a dangerous place and suicidal to even attempt to go there! You'd be throwing your life away, is that what you want?"_

_ "I'm going to change this country, Hughes." Roy said in a slightly emotional tone of voice, "I'm not going to throw away my life but I swear I'm going to find One Piece and change everything. This country. This world, and the Marines." Suddenly he sighed and looked sadly at his friend, "The only thing I'm regretting is that I might have to face you in combat in the future… and also Hawkeye's fury." _

_ "This isn't a laughing matter, Mustang." Maes said sadly. _

_ "I know, I know." Roy chuckled then let his expression fall. "And I'm sorry but its time for me to take my leave." The Colonel's lower body suddenly combusted into flames and started to vanish. A sad grin appeared on Roy's face before even soon that took the shape of the bright fire. Maes watched in horror as his friend leapt off the edge and floated down to the ground. Hughes ran over to where Mustang use to be and watched as his friend sailed off on a small dingy, Roy saw Hughes on the ledge of the mountain cliff and glanced up at him. Raising his hand Roy saluted Maes one more time before he became to distant from the cliff to hear or see anything else, though he could've sworn that he heard Hughes call out his name…_

"Captain, we're heading in!" Havoc announced snapping Roy out of his flashback. Roy flinched and looked to Havoc with dazed eyes that turned back into their regular normal serious attitude.

"Then push on!" he ordered.

"Aye Captain!" The ship slipped in between the narrow passage way and entered into Erupting Canyon. It was quiet, but that silence was average in the Canyon. It was imperial that that silence stayed at its exact quiet level, no one was allowed to talk while in the small cavern. Not a word. Not a whisper. Not a cough. Nor a sneeze. After all, the pressure of their voyage remained solely on Havoc. He had to be extremely careful when it came to sailing through the passage and very agile in case any stray boulders fell from the cliff. On each side of the ship tall desert colored mountainsides surrounded them and towered over the ship with millennium fear. The sun was hardly showing past the massive cliffs that threatened to engulf the waterway in darkness; only the clouds and the sound of seagulls were visible to the senses. Havoc slowly turned the helm a bit to the left and kept the ship away from the mountainsides, a single touch to the cliffs would trigger a massive mountain slide and that's the last thing anyone would want.

Roy looked on ahead and sighed. It didn't take long for them to get through Erupting Canyon but the sheer quietness and suspense of the minutes that go by is too breathtaking for the young captain to take. Mustang reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a wrinkled old map he unfolded it and gazed at the map with normal fascination. It was a map of a small section of the Grand Line. The Grand Line itself was too big to picture on a map to carry in your hand so small frames of it were shown instead, and Roy had the map to the Grand Line's entrance. The problem of the matter wasn't getting out of the Grand Line, it was getting _in. _The Grand Line only has **one **entrance and unfortunately that particular entrance was a risk taking rapid water way.No matter how many times he looked over the map he could never figure out how to exactly enter the Grand Line without having his ship torn to pieces by the rapids or sailing off course and into another current or island. It had been rumored that entering the Grand Line was more difficult than surviving inside of it but that was only a rumor that was soon to become a fact. The passage way was crippling with nasty rapids and waves and the weather itself was no better, lightning and rainfall were constantly occurring over the entrance and those alone could interfere with the coridance of the ship's direction.

The bottom line was; Roy needed a good navigator if they were to sail into the entrance. Its not that Havoc wasn't a good navigator as it is, but Roy didn't want Jean to have to sail and navigate the ship through the devilish rapids. He would have to multitask and one wrong move by Havoc could cause chaos for all of them. Roy glanced over the map one more time then folded it and put it back in his coat pocket. He looked up and found out they were almost though Erupting Canyon. With a small grin on his face he wondered how Central was now. How long had it been since his last visit? "Sir, your gloves." The voice of Hawkeye startled him out of his daze. He turned to the blond woman and looked down on the gloves she held in her hand.

"Ah, thank you, Hawkeye." He took the gloves and examined them thoroughly. The transmutation circles were sewn in delicately and the ignition material was back to its glorious usefulness. "Handy work as always, Master Gunner."

"Thank you, sir." Riza responded. "But could you maybe refrain from getting them torn so often? It's hard enough to-"

Suddenly the ship yanked to the right causing Riza to crash into Roy's chest. Mustang himself stumbled to keep his footing due to the sudden motion but kept his balance straight and firm he held on to the faltering Hawkeye until the movements had stopped. He looked to Havoc to see what had happened but then in the corner of his eye he caught sight of a falling rock. The rather large boulder fell into the ocean with a splash, Roy looked back up and to his shock more falling boulders were coming down from the cliffs around them. He turned back to Havoc no longer caring about keeping his voice down and shouted, "Evasive Maneuver! Take no damage to the ship!" Roy let go of Hawkeye then turned to the rest of his startled crew. "Breda, Falman, tie down any loose cannons! Hughes, Fury, make sure we aren't attracting any unwanted attention! And Armstrong-"

"SAY NO MORE, CAPTAIN!" Armstrong boomed while he put on his metal gauntlets that had his own transmutation circles on it. Within his hands he carried multiple cannon balls and at his feet with even more of the metal balls, with his gauntlets on he threw the metal balls in the air, grunted, and punched them into the falling boulders causing them to combust into small rock shards. "BEHOLD! MY BEAUTIFUL ARTISTIC ALCHEMY!" He boomed out once more as he continued to punch the cannon balls into the falling rocks.

Mustang sighed then smirked. "Good, now… Hawkeye, come with me. We need to secure all our sails in case a boulder decides to tear into one of them." he said while looking at her.

"Yes sir!" she responded. They both ran up the stairs and prepared to climb up the shrouds but before Roy started he looked to a manic Havoc and ordered, "Maneuver us out of this rock storm, Sailing Master!"

Havoc glanced over his shoulder to Mustang and muttered through his cigar, "Aye aye, Captain!" he swiftly turned back around and focused solely on the task at hand.

Riza and Roy both began climbing the shrouds then climbed up the mast. Quickly they started to tie down the sails to the mast and secured them in double knots. They continued on to the next mast that held the sails until another crash shook the ship. They both quickly held tightly onto the mast and didn't let it go until the rocking stopped, Mustang looked down and scanned over his ship from above. It seemed that a small boulder had made it past Armstrong's and Havoc's offense and now made a small crater-like hole in the center of the deck. Roy scowled at this then said, "Keep going." Hearing this Riza let go of the mast and continued on tying the knot she had not finished. Roy finished his and they moved on to the final mast and sail they had to secure.

"Almost out!" Havoc announced over the roar of crashing boulders. Roy exhaled his breath then tied and knotted his sail. Riza was finishing up hers when another crash – more severe than the last one – interrupted her and rocked the ship like a small house in the middle of an earthquake. Her feet stumbled for a moment then to her dismay she began to tilt back; soon she felt the ground leave her feet as she fell from the crow's nest. A hand reached out to her and grabbed hold of her wrist with a tight grip. Roy grunted as he took his other hand and took hold of her other wrist, his eyes narrowed as he felt himself beginning to slip out from on top of the nest. "Hold on, Hawkeye!" Riza held on tightly to Roy's own wrist and struggled to get back onto the nest. Her legs wriggled in every direction to try to get a good grip on the mast so that she could push herself up while Roy used all his strength to try to not only pull her up but also to keep himself from falling down.

He struggled to pull her up, being cautious with not breaking her wrist as the ship rocked once more. Pain struck the Captain's side as it involuntarily clashed with a block of wood. "Damn it!" he cursed while pulling Riza up some more giving her the chance to finish. She climbed back onto the nest and breathed. Roy sighed as the pain subsided and he got a look at the clear view he saw. "Looks like we're out of Erupting Canyon." He mused while a small grin placed itself on his face. "Are you okay?"

"Yes sir. A little shaken up, but I'm fine. What about you?" she asked as she relaxed her body.

"No harm done, but…" Roy looked down at the relieved Havoc and shouted, "Sailing Master Havoc, you're going to be fixing every hole that is in my ship, starting with that one over there!" he pointed to the crater hole and watched as Havoc gloomed with disbelief.

Roy chuckled then relaxed his back up against the mast. "We finally made it to Central. I suppose it's somewhat good to be back home…" he mused as he saw the big city in the distance with the sun setting behind it. In truth, he was somewhat glad to be back in Central not because of him but because Hughes could finally see his daughter and wife again, that would give him a break from hearing Maes's rants about Elicia. Taking in a breath of the ocean air Roy rose to his feet and announced to his crew, "Drop anchor and prepare to take leave! As soon _Hell Starter _is hidden and out of plain view we can take to Central! So-" Roy swallowed down the lump that had formed in his throat and continued, "Prepare to be in drag…"

…

"Elicia, dinner is ready!" Gracia announced sounding loud through the house.

"Coming Mommy!" Elicia shouted back as she came running into the dining room while carrying a small stuffed bear.

"Oh Elicia, you're still carrying that bear…" Gracia said her voice sounding a bit off.

Elicia nodded. "Uh huh, Daddy got it for me when he last visited!" she hugged the bear tightly as she jumped into her chair and looked at her mother. "Mommy, what's wrong?"

Gracia smiled at her daughter and said, "Its nothing sweety… now come on, your dinner might get cold if you don't eat it." Suddenly the doorbell rang and Gracia cringed. She got up from the table and mumbled, "Who could that be at this time of the hour?" she looked through the peephole and saw two dark figures that had their faces covered by strange hats. She unlocked the door and with caution she opened it a crack. "Yes, may I help you two?" her voice sounding suspicious.

Both of the figures were male. One of the men was wearing a loose kimono-looking gown and had a teepee-like hat on his head to cover his face, while the other man was wearing a top hat with dark sunglasses, and a black tuxedo with a red bow. Both of the men's hair was tied back into small, hardly noticeable ponytails. The nobleman looking guy spoke first and said, "Yes, are you Mrs. Hughes?"

Gracia opened the door fully and said, "I am, and who are you to ask?"

"Well, I've heard from afar that you're a most beautiful woman." Said the man in the kimono, "And I just had to meet you…"

"I'm sorry but I can't help you. Goodbye." Gracia quickly said about to shut the door but was stopped when Elicia walked over to the doorway and looked up at the two men. She suddenly smiled and shouted,

"Daddy!"

The man in the kimono laughed as Elicia ran in front of the man and hugged him. Gracia looked confused for a moment but then his hat fell and revealed his face, Gracia's eyes widened in surprise as her eyes suddenly became watery. She clasped her hands over her mouth and ran into Hughes's arms. She sobbed tears of joy into his shoulder as Hughes embraced his wife and daughter.

"Welcome home, Daddy!"

**Review Time!**

**Awesomenaruto:**** Thanks and I'll try next time not to make Ed seem that weak, I'm sorry if I did but thanks for helping me realize my mistake! Though I have one question, what's flame? :3 **

**BlackWolf2Dragoon: ****That's what a crossover is? Oh then I was way off, thanks for telling me! But what's OP? xD Lol I swear I know nothing of the fanfiction world, its just embarrassing! Thanks for telling me about my grammar again; I really do need some critism if I make mistakes like that. Dude I swear I would do anything to actually see Mustang made of flames in the anime. THAT WOULD BE WICKED AWESOME!**

**MiniSkirtRanger: ****You had me on the floor laughing like crazy when I red your review! My mom literally came running up the stairs when she confused my laughter for choking sounds. XD I FREAKING LOVE ENGLAND!**

**Rogue Soul Alchemist: ****Thank you :3**

**Mysterious Blue Jay: ****Here's an update and thank you! I'm glad you like the story but yes, it is pretty cool when Ed goes demon.**

**Mysterious-Becci-D:**** Thank you, glad you love the story x3**

**DeathBySugarCube: ****Dude, I love your pen name! Thanks btw!**

**Pixie101:**** It is? How is it like One Piece? Thank you!**

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update but school comes before my stories, without my grades I wouldn't even be typing this right now xD Anyways, I'll try to get in a good update every once in a while so thank you all for being so patient with me. I made this chapter a bit longer than my other ones; at least I think it's longer than my other ones… oh well! Here are a couple of things you all should know about from this chapter:**

**The Grand Line is like the equator of this world. Actually it technically is the equator because it's dividing the northern and southern hemisphere.**

**Shrouds are the part of the ship that helps the pirate climb up the mast. They look kind of like nets.**

**The mast is the giant wooden supports of the ship. They carry the crow's nest and sails and there are a total of three of them on Mustang's ship. **

**Aarush Z. Silverstar is his full, real name.**

**Mustang's flashback showed how he left the Marines, I'm going to continue on with it but not in the couple of chapters that are to come. **

**That's all you all needed to know but if you still have questions just ask me and I'll answer them… unless it will have something to do with a spoiler… **

** Anyways thank you all for reading and I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!**

**Until next time!**

**Pirates forever!**


	14. Chapter 14

_(Reviews are at the end of the chapter) enjoy!_

**Chapter 14/ A Home with a Welcome**

"Daddy, you've gotten taller!" Elicia said while patting Hughes on the head. She sat on his shoulders as he ran through the house making horse noises, Elicia giggled in excitement.

"And stronger for my sweet girl!" Hughes boomed as he jumped up and down to get Elicia to laugh and smile even more. And it worked. Roy and Gracia watched the two of them play from the kitchen; Gracia chuckled to herself while Roy just smiled and continued to wash the dishes.

"Thank you, Roy." Mustang heard the gratitude come from Gracia. She was looking at him with happy, sad eyes and a small smile was graced upon her face, "Thank you allowing him to come back."

Roy lowered his head but let his smile grow bigger. "It wasn't a problem, I just thought we'd come back to Central for a little family and friend reunion."

"So the rest of your crew are…"

"Hawkeye's with her friend Rebecca, Breda, Fury, and Havoc are with their families and of course Armstrong has gone off with his family…" Mustang fell silent for a bit and scrubbed the dishes with a sponge.

"What about you?" Gracia asked with hesitation.

Mustang didn't respond right away, he exhaled then finally answered, "I guess I'll go visit my family in the morning… but there's something I must warn you about, you cannot talk about Maes outside of this house. Tell no one that he's here. Speak of him to no one, not even your closet friend." Mustang said seriously as he put the plate he had just scrubbed away. Gracia nodded. "And also, don't let him out of the house unless he's in disguise."

"I know, Roy." Gracia chuckles with a soft smile on her face. She stops laughing then turns to Roy, looks at him with soft, fragile eyes and says, "Thank you."

Roy stops what he was doing at looks at her with a confused expression. "Thank you?" He asks.

"For bringing him home." Her head motions to the playing Hughes and Elicia, "I can only imagine how hard it was to get you and your crew here, and I can't express enough gratitude for how I'm feeling but… thank you."

"Mrs. Hughes, it was no problem at all." Roy says as a smile braced across his face, "I owe Maes everything for what he's sacrificed for me… and allowing him to come back to Central is the least I can do."

"…" Gracia stayed quiet for a little while then sighed. "Are you just doing this to repay a debt to him?"

Roy flinched. "No! Of course not!"

"Then what is your reason for coming here?" Gracia asked her eyes narrowing, "I'm sorry if I'm being rude but I must know. What is your real reason for taking such risks to come back to Central?"

"…" Roy was speechless. His heart opened a gap in him as his voice tried to catch up with his mind, "Mrs. Hughes…"

"Please! I have to know!" Her wild, watery gaze met that of the Captain's regretful black eyes. Her voice was lower than a shout but the strain was easily detectable in her barely audible words, she didn't want her husband and daughter to hear her. "Why? Just why did you come back?"

"…"

"… Why won't you answer me?"

"… Because I'm not the one to tell you." Roy said in an almost calm voice, his head motioned to Hughes as he gave his daughter another hug, "He's the one you need to talk to, not me."

"It's bad isn't it?" Roy winced. "This isn't just a simple visit, is it?"

"Mrs. Hughes, this is not for me to discuss with you. If you want to know anything, you have to talk with your husband, not me." Roy said firmly. Their eyes locked in time and didn't turn away from each other. Then finally, her eyes closed and her head dropped. Roy could hear her inhale and exhale a breath as two single words escaped the light smile that was placed on her soft face.

"I see."

The kitchen fell utterly still and silent. Nothing else existed outside their fallen contact until Gracia lifted her head and said, "I have an extra room for you to sleep in. Maes can stay in the room with me so you can have it for yourself."

"Thank you, Mrs. Hughes." Roy said with a yawn, "I think I'm going to retire now."

"Okay. The guest room is the second door down the hall."

Roy nodded and began to leave, "Thank you for your hospitality." He says before disappearing down the hallways and into the room. Gracia stares at the empty spot for a brief moment then snaps out of her daze when the laughs of her family reach her ears.

"Daddy! Haha, let go!" Elicia shouts in excitement as Maes lifts his daughter in the air and swings her around in circles, all the while making the little girl laugh. Gracia glanced over at them and smiled once again. Perhaps everything was going to be okay after all…

_(Later on)_

"Goodnight, sweetheart." Hughes softly said before kissing Elicia on the forehead. After almost a whole night of playing Elicia had fallen sound asleep in his arms. Maes carried her into her bedroom, tucked her in and silently left the room whispering one last thing. "Sweet dreams."

Maes shifted down the halls and stopped frozen when the still figure of Roy Mustang approached him. "Having a good time so far?" Mustang asked.

Hughes smiled and answered, "Of course, what about you?"

"Alls good and well." Roy said calmly then narrowed his eyes to slits, "You have to tell her, Maes."

Remaining silent for a bit, Hughes walked past his friend and softly said, "I know." He continued to walk, not looking back at Roy to see the smug frown on his face. Maes cringed; this was the moment he was regretting all the while. The moment he had to tell his wife that they were finally setting out to the Grand Line and – possibly – are never going to return. His heart drummed against his chest as if determined to burst through him while his face was trying to mask the grief that was starting to consume him. With every step he took his breath caught in his throat, but it was now or never. He had to tell her. He had no choice. As a man he had to break the news to her, as a husband he had to comfort her and especially as a father, he had to be with his family.

And there he was. In the middle of their doorway to their bedroom staring at Gracia with a knowing gaze. She was already in their bed reading a book when her eyes met his, and she smiled. That wonderful, sweet smile that Maes loved so much…

"Gracia…"

(Next morning)

"Daddy! Daddy! Mr. Mustang is gone!" Elicia cried out as she ran into the kitchen with her pajamas still on.

"Oh. He probably scampered off somewhere." Maes said to her as he picked her up again and gave her a hug.

"Daddy, put me down!" She cried out a little tiredly. "Your beard is itchy!" Maes laughed and put her down. "Where's Mommy?"

Quieting down his laughter, Maes smiled softly and said to her, "Mommy's still sleeping, lets let her sleep a little while more." He put a finger over his mouth to signal her to speak quieter, Elicia giggled and copied her father. "Now, what would you like for breakfast?"

Elicia smiled even bigger than before and whispered, "Pancakes!"

…

Even early in the morning the streets of Central were ablaze. Roy scanned over the people around him through his black shades and sighed, not much had changed about Central since their last visit. But the last time they came back was at least two months ago…

The streets and sidewalks held businessmen and women, alchemists, regular citizens, and of course _marine soldiers. _Roy smiled at this. This just proved how incompetent the _Marines _really were, how oblivious they were to who walked among them, to how prideful they are of their so-called fair city. The greatest thief of all time, the infamous man who was once part of their military, the great Flame Pirate was in their wakes and they would never know.

But of course Roy disguised himself pretty masterfully.

Wearing a long black coat to brave the cold elements, his usual dark boots and a black top hat upon his head. Normal tuxedo-like clothing was underneath the coat and to hide his eyes he wore dark shades while his hair was in a standard small ponytail, to anyone who looked at him the idea of a Nobleman came to their minds. That's the way he wanted to look. No one would ever think a pirate would dress so _neatly _and _clean_, and even to disguise themselves they wouldn't! But being found out was the least of Roy's concerns – no, what worried him the most was the possibility of one of his crewmates being revealed and captured.

The plain fact of the matter still stood. The one terrifying truth that pulled Roy down was so vivid that it hurt. They were in Central, and in Central if a pirate or anyone having to do with any particular form of piracy is revealed then that person is not sent to prison or given a trial. _They are sent to execution right on the spot. _In the middle of Central was a large empty square where the people of Central were to meet in case of any town meeting or crisis, the square was right in front of Marines Headquarters. Placed on top of the Marines HQ was a board-like plank where the executioners and executed were presented, the plank was meant for three people only. Two executioners and the guilty man or woman.

Roy looked up for a second and saw the gray sky. _Looks like rains about to come… _he thought to himself lowering his head. In the corner of his eye, Roy caught the sight of a coffee shop and immediately went in without a second thought. The door opened with a ring and closed with a slam as he walked up to the counter and said casually, "Black coffee, please."

The woman behind the counter blinked and asked, "No sugar? No crème?" Roy shook his head and the lady went off to fetch his order. Humming to himself Roy looked around the customer-filled coffee shop and flinched for a second, on the wall where a donut station was placed was a wanted bounty picture. The bounty held the headshot of a raven-haired man with narrow eyes, a disagreeing frown with his tongue sticking out, and a small moustache just above his upper lip. Under the picture of the man read the name "Roy "Flame Pirate" Mustang" and a bounty of 10,000,000 cenz if captured alive. Roy grimaced and deepened the frown on his face as he thought _I don't have a moustache… if they're going to put a header on me then they need to draw me right…_

"Ah, are you a bounty hunter too?" The woman asked as she carefully placed the cup of coffee on the counter.

Startled by her sudden question Roy slowly shook his head. "Oh. Well then that's too bad." The woman sighed, "We need bounty hunters to capture that pirate… $3.56 is your total."

_Damn, that's robbery, _Roy sighed as he reached in his pocket and counted out his money. "Why must this pirate be caught so badly?" He asked handing the money to the woman.

"Because he's dangerous." The woman said flatly, taking the money from him, "Did you know that the Flame Pirate use to be in the Marines?"

"No, I had no idea." Roy answered faking astonishment.

"Well he was," The woman _cha-chinged _the cash register, "He use to be a Colonel and was the damn best soldier of all, I heard he was on his way to becoming an Admiral but then… he went insane and fled the Marines."

"Insane?" Roy gasped, hardly faking the surprise this time.

"Ya, I heard he went crazy after hearing that his family was involved in piracy and then executed right in front of his eyes. He then went AWOL, killed his best friend who was trying to stop him and joined a life of piracy…"

"Best friend?"

"You know, Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes. Colonel Mustang killed him and then the rest of his unit before he fled Central… 32 cenz is your change." The woman sighed and handed the Nobleman his change and coffee. "Although, I'd probably go insane too if my family was killed right in front of me…"

"Maes Hughes, Riza Hawkeye, Jean Havoc, Alex Armstrong, and the rest of the _ex-_Colonel's team were given proper burial, but still-"

"I'm sorry, miss, but I'm in a hurry." Roy quickly said, bowing a little and tipping his hat, "Good day, mam'm."

"Oh! Okay then, come again soon!" She quickly said as Roy walked out the door with his coffee cup in hand. He entered back into the crowded sidewalks of the town and scowled secretly. _So, that's the lie the Marines told everyone, _he lifted the cup to his lips and began to drink it in a hurry, _perfect… they played their role exactly how I wanted them too. _Putting the coffee cup down to his side, Roy smirked and continued on walking. He had expected the Marines to cook up a good enough lie about him and his crew but he never exactly heard what the lie was about.

The legendary Colonel Mustang gone insane by the viewing of his family's executions and killed his best friend and regiment. The lie was so perfect that it sickened Roy to the very debts of his soul. The day he left Central was the day the Marines found out about his betrayal; how they found out he didn't know. An immediate capture of the rogue colonel was sent out afterwards and up until that point everything was going well for Roy. He had returned to Central a week after his fleeing but just to collect his belongings none the less, though when he came back a surprise was waiting for him. Hughes, Hawkeye, Breda, Falmon, Havoc, Fury and Armstrong were all waiting for him to arrive and with the intention of going with him. At first Roy had declined their offer but after an argument or two he decided to let them come with him, of course they had to figure out a way to go with him without being caught in the act of betrayal.

That's when they came up with the perfect plan.

They all faked their deaths. The performance of having the "insane" rogue soldier come back from out of nowhere and claiming all of their lives. It was perfect, just perfect and all their family and friends knew about it. But that act alone wouldn't guarantee the truth to be hidden. If Roy knew the Admirals, which he does, then he knows that they saw through their little "act", but that was also their one weakness.

With Colonel Mustang, a trusted and powerful soldier among the ranks, having gone against his superiors the people of Central were in a flock of terrified confusion. A tiny panic among the citizens of Central began to spread and the one question that always popped up during those times was: who can we trust in the Marines? And of course, the Admirals couldn't have an inch of doubt towards the army. So what did they do? They covered it up. Covered up the truth of their treason and replaced it with a technical lie. Brilliant yet devious.

Finishing up the rest of his coffee, Roy threw the cup away in a tiny trashcan. The smile lay still on his face as he kept walking. Above him the clouds began turning a dark gray, signifying the coming of a storm.

…

By the time Roy got to _Central Cemetery _the dark clouds, making the scene a bit more depressing than he intended, had already covered the sun. Black eyes looked solemnly down at the three tombstones and a lost breath escaped past his lips.

_Lindsey S. Mustang_

_1958-1996_

_A loving wife and caring mother_

_William D. Mustang_

_1956-1996_

_A brave husband and strong father_

_Sirius S. Mustang_

_1972-1996_

_A missed and remembered brother_

At that moment, the hole in Roy's heart opened and destroyed the mask he had been wearing. His eyes revealed a type of sorrow that no one had ever seen and yet, a slither of unknown happiness was showing itself. A sad smile crept on his face as he lowered his head, sat down on the ground and faced the graves of his family. Everything around the disguised captain seemed to stop. Time. Wind. Space. Life. It all stopped. Nothing else mattered outside this single moment, and for the first time Roy felt that he was actually back home.

Lifting his hand, he removed his hat and kept it by his side. He wished he could've bought flowers to put on their graves but that would most likely alert someone of his presence, considering that hardly anyone in the city even remembered his parents and brother. Visiting their grave was dangerous enough but leaving a memento was over the top risky. So with a heavy heart Roy opened his mouth, hesitated for a moment and then let his voice flow out. "Hello again…" He calmly said. "I'm sorry I haven't come to visit in a long time..." As if waiting for someone out of the blue to respond, he remained silent for a bit and sighed. "I suppose I owe you all an explanation for why I've been gone for so long," once again, he waited then continued, "well, I guess I should start from the very beginning."

"It all started with the problem of finding a decent ship…"

And so he told the tales of his explorations throughout the lands and over the seas. He talked and talked even when the rain began to fall on him.

…

Trudging down the sidewalks and pushing through the crowds of people, Roy grimaced as the rain pounded down hard on his head to the point that he had to take cover in a random store. Unfortunately for him, he ended up walking back into the same coffee shop he was just in. "Welcome!" The same woman behind the counter shouted with a smile. She looked back at Roy, scanned over his face and gasped. "Hey, you're that man from earlier aren't you?"

Roy nodded and smiled, "Yep, I'm back again. You seem much cheerier than this morning."

"Well, you know, it was morning. You're half awake as it is," She then added with a smile, "But now that its noon, I'm more awake than ever! So, what brings you back here, Mr. Fancy?"

Chuckling a bit at the name she had called him, Roy answered, "Gotta keep dry somehow."

"Sorry sir, but if you want to stay here you have to purchase a product of some sort." The woman then turned around and began adjusting the radio behind her, "It's shore policy."

_Typical. _"Alright then." Roy sighed as he began looking at the menu above him, "Just another small cup of black coffee, please."

"Okay then." She answered as she finished making the small adjustments to the radio and went to get the captain's order. The static started to sliver away and a clear, male voice became instantly known.

**Attention, denizens of Central, we've just received word of a pirate ship entering Central borderlines and breaking through the Marines first defense.**

_Pirates? Who the hell would be stupid enough to-_

**We are not aware of the pirate's identity but it is informed that their intentions are unknown at the time. For now, we are in Code Orange. I repeat, this is a Code Orange warning.**

**We will keep everyone updated with the latest reports.**

"Oi, just what we need another pirate attack." the woman sighed as she placed the coffee in front of him and said, "Isn't it enough that we have to deal with such barbaric beings? Your total is $3.00."

"I know just how you feel, having to face such ruthless thieves, all pirates are just shameful." Roy said, actually mentally laughing. "Wasn't it more the last time I bought this?" He asked.

"Another one of our policies is that the customer gets a discount if he or she comes back in the same day." The woman smiled as she took the money the raven-haired man gave her. "No change, hope you enjoy your coffee!"

Roy smiled back at her, grabbed the cup, walked over to an empty table and sat down. He casually lifted the coffee to his lips and began to drink it, all the while listening to the started up conversations of the people around him.

"Another pirate attack? Seriously?"

"Why can't they all just stay out of our city?"

"Why can't they all just burn in hell."

"Now there's a question that needs to be answered."

"Why do they even try? They should all know that Central is not to be toyed with. Especially since we have Admiral King Bradley."

Roy cringed.

"Ya, with him as our leader nothing can break through to Central!"

Almost spitting out the coffee in his mouth, he forced himself to swallow it. His eyes caught wind of the rain crashing down on the window next to him as the man on the radio spoke up again:

**Attention! This is no longer a Code Orange warning! We are now in Code Red, I repeat; we are now in Code Red! The identity of the pirate ship has been confirmed! I repeat the identity has been confirmed!**

The shop fell deathly quiet. Everyone was now focused on the sound of the radio.

**The ship belongs to the pirate known as the Fullmetal Demon! I repeat, the ship belongs to the Fullmetal Demon!**

Roy then chocked on his galloping heart. _The pipsqueak? You've got to be kidding me?_

**The Fullmetal Demon's ship has broken through the fourth wall of defense! All citizens are now recommended to go back to their homes as soon as they can!**

"The Fullmetal Demon?"

"I've heard of him! He's the most dangerous pirate of them all!"

"Why would he come here?"

Not wanting to hear any more of this, Roy dashed out the door and into the rain. Leaving his coffee cup behind.

_(On the border seas of Central)_

"Quick! We need more ammo!"

"There is no more! We used up our last barrel!"

"Lieutenant, the ship's sinking!"

"Help!"

As another Marines ship sank to the bottom of the sea, a red ship pushed past their next barrier. Making itself ever so close to the amazing city**. "**Commander Johnson, Ship A-45 has just been destroyed!" A Marines Officer reported to his leader.

"Damn pirates!" Commander Johnson cursed through raged gritted teeth, "Ignite the cannons and on my mark fire! We'll send those accursed pirates to oblivion! On my command, FI-"

Stopping his speech, a red blur caught the Commander by his neck and before he knew it, a sword was positioned against his trachea. "Now, who will you be sending to oblivion?" the young man holding the commander hostage hissed.

All attention was then focused on the sudden event. "D-Damn p-pir-ate…" Johnson snarled through struggling breaths.

"How about you just sleep for a bit?" the young blond smirked as his automail arm hit the man square on his head, knocking him out cold. Commander Johnson fell faintly on the deck of his ship and his soldiers watched his body go limb. Their eyes then focused upon the pirate who had just knocked out their superior. Golden hair, an eye patch, an automail right arm and the smirk of a cunning child but the face of a demon, Edward took one step forward as guns were immediately pointed in his direction. He laughed for a bit then narrowed his eye in excitement, "Well then, let's get started."

**Review time!**

**Awesomenaruto: ****Ohhhhhhhhhhh so that's what a flame is… that explains a lot now! Thanks!**

**Mysterious blue jay:**** Thanks, I'm glad you liked it :D**

**BlackWolf2Dragoon:**** What I can't believe is that they actually have a list of fanfiction terms xD this just proves the Internet has everything! Thanks for reviewing again!**

**Annie-The-Awesome:**** Thanks, I was going for that!**

**Pixie101:**** Oh sorry! I didn't mean to be rude or anything, I was just curious to know what the similarities were :D and you really think it was a great idea, thank you!**

**MiniSkirtRanger:**** Yes she did, it was actually really funny! Thanks for reviewing again and quick, random question: are you in the Miniskirt Army? Just asking you don't have to answer if you don't want to.**

**A/N: So Sorry! School is really kicking me in the ass! So far everything is well but to everyone who has been waiting patiently for an update, I thank all of you! Thank you all for having the patience to deal with my delays!**

**Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this new chapter! If anyone has any questions or is confused with the story so far, just ask me and I'll answer them! **

**Please Review!**

**Thank you all!**

**Pirates Forever!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Battle on the Borderline **

"Argggggg!" Wrath grunted as he prepared to jump off Ed's ship and onto a Marines ship. Al spotted Wrath and quickly pulled him back, wearing a shaky smile Al calmly said, "Look, Wrath, this is a little too dangerous for you. So maybe you should just go back to the quarters with Winry-"

"I don't want to!" Wrath shouted as he pushed himself out of Al's grip. "I want to help too! And besides, Miss Winry is over there!" He cried out pointing to the corner deck of the ship where a gun loaded Winry was. At her side was a two-ton cannon ready to fire and in each of her hands was a fully loaded gun, Al sighed again and looked back to Wrath.

"Alright then, we'll go abroad together but I don't want you getting too far ahead of me, okay?" Al instructed careful to scan over Wrath's expression to see if he was paying attention. Wrath nodded and smiled, agreeing to his terms. Al smiled then turned to a panicked Russell. "Russell, you're in charge while I'm gone." Al ordered, throwing him an extra gun. Russell caught the gun frantically, batted his eyes away for a second and heard the cheery voice of Alphonse once more. "Good luck!" Russell glanced back at the two pirates and froze, his mouth gaping open. Wrath, who was clutching on to Al as tightly as he could, was waving at the older blond with a smile on his face while Al was holding a rope in one of his hands while the other possessed an aimed gun. Russell followed the gun's direction and his eyes lowered, understanding what Al was about to do. The gun's target was the mast where a bundle of different ropes tied together; it was aimed at one specific tie though. The rope that Al was carrying.

Firing the gun, Al glanced back at Russell and smiled before going up. The tie broke under the shot of the bullet and Al and Wrath rose up above the decks of the ship. Allowing the influence of the rope to take them up, Al spotted his brother taking down another Marines ship, and sighed as the ship sank and Ed jumped onto the next boat alerting his new victims of his presence. The rope stopped moving and Al shifted his body weight, making the rope swing. Wrath cried out and smiled causing Al to sigh again, he eyed a medium size Marines ship close to them and yelled to the child. "Wrath, I'm about to let go, hold on!"

Wrath stopped laughing and asked, "What?"

"I said I'm about to let go!" Al repeated, the rope in his hand slipping. Wrath tightened his grip even further around the younger Elric and closed his eyes; Al looked ahead and let go of the rope. Gravity immediately caught up with them as Al and Wrath landed feet first on the Marines ship, startling the unsuspecting crew immensely. Alphonse quickly unsheathed his two swords and held them firmly in his hands; he looked to Wrath and saw that he already had a sword out in one of his hands and a chain in the other. "Ready?" Al asked with a smile as the soldiers around him began to aim their guns at them.

"I've been ready." Wrath answered, his eyes flashing a dangerous interest. Al sighed and shouted, "Alright then, attack!"

…

Sinking yet another ship, Ed laughed and jumped onto the next boat - his next target. As usual the expression on the soldiers faces were the same; shock, fear, surprise, even the occasional fake bravery. It was somewhat funny to see such faces on those bravado soldiers; at least they attempted to defend themselves in some way. Ed clapped his hands and turned his automail arm into a sharp blade, he immediately began to charge the Marine soldiers who had their own weapons pointed out at him. Ed snickered at their useless attempts to harm him, with an almost crazed smirk on his face Ed attacked furiously at the soldiers, either knocking them out cold or throwing them over board.

Once the ship was cleared of enemies Ed leapt on the top deck and looked over how many ships were left to take down. _At least twenty more left… _He thought solemnly while looking over the seas, he wasn't all too impressed with Central's defenses and yet he heard that they were the best in the world. But _this, _this was just pathetic. It didn't take Edward and his crew long to take down five of Central's main layers of defense, hell, it probably took them under an hour at least! Walking away from the edge of the deck, Edward clapped his hands once again and slammed them onto the center of the ship. Alchemic lights sprouted and began spreading to every section of the ship until the ship itself began to break apart and collapse.

` Edward smirked to himself and leapt away from the ship then pain rocketed through his body. Bright red colors flashed before his eyes and his vision swirled and blurred, he didn't need to look over himself to see that he had been hit. But with what? As the blond pirate began to fall he caught a glimpse of the damage done and gasped. Everything went complete red. It started out with seeing that disgusting crimson color flow and fly through the air then ended with a black mass of metal lodged in his side… then that's when he heard it. _Crack! _His ribs fractured and rendered useless to support himself, then finally he plummeted into the dark abyss. Submerged in the pressure of the ocean around him.

In the distance a Marines ship was rejoicing and cheering. "Admiral! We got him!" One soldier cheered.

"We got him!" Another shouted. "We put down the Fullmetal Demon!"

"Hold your horses, men." The Admiral ordered in a calm voice. "Keep your guards, remember who we're fighting against."

"B-But sir, you saw him fall into the sea and take that cannon ball head on!" A soldier said with hesitance evident in his voice. "No one can survive that!"

"…" The Admiral opened his eye and narrowed it down on the soldier who dared to speak out. "Did I ask to hear your opinion, soldier?" The man rose from his seat and glared down at the now shivering soldier.

"U-um… no sir." The soldier answered, his form going stiff while he kept his salute position solid.

"Then do you care to explain to me why you spoke out of line?" The Admiral growled.

"… W-well sir-" The soldier began then was cut off by an outburst of laughter. "Sir?" He asked not quite sure why his superior had suddenly was suddenly laughing. The black-haired Admiral slowly quieted down then said, "At ease, Soldier, it was just a joke!" The soldier sighed with relief.

"Ah, alright then." The Admiral said, "Soldiers, stand guard! We're not out of the woods yet, there's still some pirates out there on our seas, so let's finish the job!"

"Yes sir, Admiral King Bradley!" The soldiers responded, then quickly disbanded to their stations.

…

Out of the corner of his eye, Al saw his brother's still form fall into the depths of the ocean. Lifeless and unconscious, his blood flying through the air and tainting the battle seas. Al froze up, his body stiffened and he could feel his swords begin to slip from his grip. Everything around him didn't matter. The noise and gunshots echoed silently in the corners of his mind but only one thing kept him on focus.

Al shivered once, then shivered twice. Soon he found his entire body trembling… his eyes widened in horrific understanding as the wind blew through his brunette hair carrying with it the scent of freshly spilt blood. Al fell to his knees and whispered one, lone word escaped his lost voice.

"Brother?"

"**Al! Behind you!**"

The teen turned around but it was too late. Red filled his vision and before darkness consumed him, he saw the frantic face of Wrath who was calling out to him and being tackled upon.

Then all went blank.

**Review Time!**

**Mysterious blue jay:**** Ed is soooooooooo badass! And Roy isn't too heartless… at times XD Anyways, thank you and I hope you liked this chapter.**

**Annie-The-Awesome:**** He is? That's cool :D Hughes is so funny and caring, especially when Roy's trying to act all wisdomly and stuff xD When doesn't Edward cause a wide spread panic? XD Thanks for reviewing again, I really appreciate it! **

**MiniSkirtRanger:**** Ohhhhhhh I've somewhat always wondered where your username came from… and dude, you ALWAYS make me laugh when I read your review XD Please keep making jokes, they are too funny XDDDDDDD**

**Awesomenaruto:**** There's the possibility that you will… or will they? No spoilers for you! XD But anyways, thanks for reviewing again and I hope you liked this chapter!**

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is short but its still somewhat good… at least its up to all of you to decide that. Attention EVERYONE! I appreciate the reviews I get but getting four reviews almost every chapter is getting somewhat old, so here's a challenge: I won't update this story again until the reviews hit 69 or above. So until then, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Pirates Forever!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Use in the Rain **

Silence. Everlasting, pain-ridden silence. It was agonizing with the unsettling turn of events that had happened. Hearing about that shrimp of a pirate arriving in Central was one thing, but the fact that Hughes had gone off and left with his wife and daughter to god only knows where, was another. Mustang sat down on the couch of the Hughes's home and sighed, this really wasn't what he needed right now. His hand automatically went to the bridge of his nose to relieve the stress that was beginning to build. _It's alright,_ he thought, _all I have to do is stay calm, don't act suspicious, and scold Maes about the importance of telling me where he goes. _Closing his eyes for a second, a small grin rose on his face as Roy calmed his nerves. _Two days have already passed, _Roy thought as he stood up and walked away from the couch, _just five more days until we're out on the sea again… and headed towards the Grand Line._ Sighing again, Roy walked into the kitchen and looked towards the radio. It would be good for him to catch up on the current news, just to see how that squirt was fairing. Turning it on, Roy adjusted the knob and listened carefully as the static began to disperse.

**Attention citizens, our sources now tell us that the Fullmetal Demon is no longer a threat. We are no longer in Code Red.**

_So the pipsqueak ran off? _Roy thought curiously. _No, he doesn't seem like the type…_

**Admiral King Bradley and his crew have eligibly shot down the Fullmetal Demon and has reported his death. The rest of the Demon's crew has been captured and will be tried tomorrow evening to decide all of their fates. **

Coal eyes went wide as a lump formed in Roy's throat.

**Until then, citizens of Central, relax, stay in your homes and listen to the sweet smooth music of classic jazz… * A saxophone begins to play * **

Roy turned off the radio, silencing the music and grunted. "Goddamn that kid…" He said, feeling a bit agitated with the news he had just received. "Why the hell would you come here!" The Flame Pirate was beyond the word furious. He didn't actually think that that kid would be stupid enough to follow him, but how did he know he was in Central? Mustang scowled and walked out of the kitchen, pacing to himself about the difficult turn of events. If Edward's crew was captured then they were sure to be hung, even if they were tried the jury would find them immediately guilty. It was one of Central's most known right to have a trial before punishment, but those "trials" were always bribed by the opposing side of the prosecutor. In other words, they were corrupted. The trials were not justice, they were not truthful. They were only won over by money, bribes, and hatred. Roy was beginning to seethe in anger, filling the room with rising heat. Even the most honest of good souls would be found guilty and executed soon after_… just like his own parents and brother… _

Mustang was quickly snapped back into reality when a crackle of lightning flared up the room. As soon as the light came, it vanished, replaced by the dark blackness of the stormy night. After a second, Mustang snapped his fingers, allowing a small flame flicker in his palm and sighed, "_Great…_ just fucking great…" Guiding himself across the blacked out house, he found his black shades and jacket, put them on quickly and walked outside, into the pouring down rain and thunder. The dark-haired captain winced at the mix of cold and wet wind and shivered involuntarily, he walked over to the side of the Hughes's house and searched for a generator box of some kind. In the dark of the night, he could hardly see a thing and sparking a fire would be useless with the rain falling. Roy grumbled and grimaced, he should've gotten a flashlight while he was in the house… sighing, the captain continued to feel around for a box until his hands bumped into something metal-like. The captain smiled, opened the box and did whatever he could to restart the electricity with the little light he had. A small spark flew from the box as Roy's hand cowered away from it, he hissed when he felt a singe of pain erupt on his skin.

It sizzled at first but quickly dulled. Mustang sighed, he knew this would be dangerous without a flashlight, and especially while it's raining but nonetheless, he needed to get the lights back on. Mustang then stopped moving and raised his guard, he heard something – footsteps? – Coming from behind him. He wasn't too keen on the idea of someone trying to ambush him on a stormy night such as this, especially since he had nothing to defend himself. Coal eyes narrowed as Roy's head turned slightly, getting a good look over his shoulder, he took one step forward and allowed the years of military training awaken in his mind and body. The footsteps were getting closer… too close. Roy prepared himself, turned around and abruptly stopped himself from attacking the man in front of him. His fist was only two inches away from the bearded man's face, Roy gasped and sighed with relief, "Hughes, you should know better than to sneak up on me."

Hughes chuckled and said, "Now I do. What are you doing out here anyways?"

"Your house blew a fuse. All the lights are off."

"Oh my." Gracia said from behind Maes.

"Where'd you all go?" Roy quickly asked before he would forget.

"Oh. Nowhere, we were just out to get a bite to eat." Maes said sheepishly, Roy could already tell that wasn't the full truth. Maes coughed and quickly said, "Anyways! Elicia wanted to give you something from the restaurant."

"What is it?"

"Why don't you ask her, right Eli-" He stopped himself when he noticed that his daughter was not by his side or behind him. Gracia too realized this at the same time Hughes did and gaped breathlessly. "Elicia?" said Hughes as he turned his head in every direction, looking hopelessly through the barrage of rain. "Elicia!" He shouted.

"Yes, daddy?" Her voice was small and soft but was obviously filled with a confused sense of happiness.

Gracia and Maes looked down to see their daughter standing behind them in her raincoat, a somewhat grim frown on her face immediately disappeared when Maes bent down and scooped her into a big hug, prompting her to smile. "Oh Elicia, I thought I lost you!"

_You? Lose her? _Roy shook his head in disbelief, _that's impossible. Just impossible._

"Elicia, where were you?" Mrs. Hughes asked, concern and confusion written on her face.

The girl looked up at her mother and frowned again. "There's this man." She began, "And he's hurt. He told me to leave him alone but I couldn't… he's bleeding."

The concern returned ten fold on the Hughes's faces. "Wait, a man?" Maes started first. "Who?"

"I tried to bring him to you but he pushed me away." Elicia stuttered. She looked down at her yellow raincoat and frowned even deeper. The Hughes's had just noticed the blood that tainted their daughter's coat; it was washing away slowly by the rain but was still fresh. "Please, daddy! He's really hurt!" She then pointed into the blurry distance of the night and said, "He's over there and needs help!"

"Elicia, that's very nice of you to care about someone who's hurt," Maes began, he gaze never leaving his daughter, "but you can't just wander away from us like that. You had us scared."

"I know, Daddy!" Elicia hollered, her voice now above the thundering of the rain, "But he's really hurt and needs help! Can you please help him!" Now looking slightly bewildered, Maes stood up and rubbed the back of his neck, thinking carefully about what to say to his daughter.

Roy stepped up to his friend, looked down at Elicia and softly said, "You know, if you stay out in the rain like this you'll catch a cold, and such a beautiful girl like yourself shouldn't have to get sick." Putting on a smile, Roy turned to Maes and continued, "I'll tend to this injured man Elicia's worried about, you just go back inside," he paused, "and light a few candles, I don't think the electricity will be coming back on until morning."

"Roy, you don't have to-"

"Thank you, Mr. Mustang!" Elicia shouted, smiling once again. She suddenly grabbed her mother and father's hand and started to pull them into the house. Maes looked back at Roy's grim smile and sighed, disappearing into the darkness of their home.

Breathing shallowly, Roy started to walk in the direction that Elicia pointed to, his dark eyes scanned over the area and narrowed as another crackle of lightning ran across the sky. With that single millisecond of light, Roy was able to get a glimpse of a moving figure a few feet ahead of him. This time he didn't walk, he ran up to the figure, still keeping his guard up, and said, "Hey, are you okay." Then something lashed out at him.

By instinct, Roy dodged and backed away from whatever was close to attacking him. Through the darkness, he glanced down and saw a ball of red with shining golden eyes glaring at him. There was only one person Mustang knew who had golden glowing eyes, "Pipsqueak?" He said carefully. The ball of red stood up and growled, Roy looked over at the young man and saw just how badly injured he was. Apparently it wasn't just his red coat that was making him appear in crimson colors, Roy could see the dozens of gashes that covered Ed's pale face and body while his blood dripped from his damp clothes and wounds. "Fullmetal?" Those golden eyes were still glaring at him, as if waiting for something but, strangely, there was something off about them. "Edward?"

All at once, Edward lunged at Roy, snarling furiously at the older captain. The mercenary quickly moved out of the teen's range and leapt backwards, barely dodging the sharp objects that were hurdling towards him. Roy mentally cursed while moving away from the offensive blond pirate, why was he acting this way? Roy was both confused and glad at the same time, he was glad because the young pirate had not died, that was somewhat a relief. Yet, why was he attacking him? And how did he get here? In the midst of his movements, Roy caught a glimpse of Ed's full form and cringed, giving the young pirate the advantage in finally wounding him. Mustang faltered for a bit, steadily backing up away from Ed's attacks as he flicked away the blood that was oozing from his cut cheek.

Thankfully, Ed abruptly stopped his frenzy blows and glared down at the muddy floor, Mustang backed away a bit and breathed in relief. Thunder rolled over both of their hearing and lightning oversaw their view, giving them both the advantage. Roy finally caught his breath as his eyes instinctively gazed over at the blond, the sudden rush of blood in his veins calming down and freezing once he viewed over Ed's current appearance. Dangerous, glowing golden eyes with black slits in them, lips curled back in an animalistic snarl, fangs bared like a wounded beast, sharp, black talons at the end of Ed's fingers, devilish horns and wings protruding from his body along with pointed ears, and to add to the deformed look, his skin was a deathly gray covered with bruises and cuts. If not for the seconds of light given from the sky, Roy wouldn't have been able to see the condition of the injured young man. "Edward," Roy began cautiously, "I need you to calm down. I can help you, but you have to stop attacking me." He didn't approach the young pirate, not out of fear but out of caution. He didn't want Ed to freak out again and cause any more possible damage to himself.

The teen growled and hissed, baring his fangs in a ferocious warning, but Mustang did not falter. He held his ground and narrowed his eyes at the pirate, raising his hand as if to snap at the teen, but Mustang knew all too well that he was utterly useless in the rain. Ed hissed at the movement and stepped towards the captain, his back arched in a feral way. "Ed, where's your brother?" Ed flinched and Roy saw his chance. "He got captured, didn't he? While you ran away and saved yourself."

This time Ed did not flinch, instead he growled and sputtered, twisting his face into that of a real demon. Roy could easily tell he was making the younger captain angry but that's exactly what he needed. He needed to get Edward to snap out of his trance or shock and calm down, without resorting to violence. "Are you going to abandon him, Edward? Your own brother? And what about your crew? Are you going to abandon them too? Because you and I both know that a pirate that's captured here is given no mercy. They'll be hung by the gallows." Roy could feel it, the agitation in Edward's eyes, now only one more push was needed… smirking his usual smug smirk, Roy snickered and said, "You're nothing more than a coward, Edward, if you're willing to leave your own brother and crew in the hands of death."

Lightning struck the ground continuously, loaning its light once more to the two pirates. Ed lifted his head, glared at the raven-haired pirate and roared furiously, the aid of thunder adding to his warped voice. "_I. Am. Not. A. Coward._" Mustang heard Ed snarl, fiery golden eyes cutting through the darkness of temporary insanity. "_And I am __**not **__going to leave my brother behind._" Finally, Ed's face relaxed and let go of the tension, his muscles fell limb as his body gave into the stress of the moment and fell. Roy caught the young man's body just in time before it hit the wet ground and smiled bitterly, looking over the unconscious teenager.

"I know you're not a coward, pipsqueak, but you are short tempered." He carefully whisked the teen over his shoulder and started walking back towards the Hughes's home.

**Author's Note:**** I cannot begin to say how sorry I am for taking so long to update this. Besides my mom breaking my laptop, I've also had EOC's to study for and my mom's health to worry about. But anyways, I am so sorry for taking so long with this chapter and next time I'll try to get the next one up as quick as I can. I'm on spring break right now so I should have it up by the end of this week.**

**Oh! And in case anyone wants to see what Edward and Alphonse really look like as pirates, then here's a picture!: .com/art/Pirate-Brothers-216781514 **

**Fill in any spaces that are there! And the link will also be on my profile! Thanks everyone for having such patience with me! And thanks for the reviews too! I really do appreciate what all of you have to say, so thank you! And I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!**

**Review Time!**

**BlackWolf2Dragoon:**** I have to honestly say, I really am thankful for the reviews I get and I'm especially thankful that you write long reviews, it keeps me interested and you always tell me my mistakes. Thanks for that and please don't stop, I'm really glad you still like this story and that you take the time to review. :D Thanks dude.**

**Annie-The-Awesome:**** Dude, you had me laughing when I red your review XD no joke, dude, no joke. And sorry it took me so long to update, besides school things have been tough but I'm really glad you're sticking to the story! Thanks so much!**

**DeathBySugarCube: ****Lol dude just lol XD I could never kill off Edward! He's way too epic and fun to write about :D Thanks by the wat!**

**Awesomenaruto:**** Thank you :D **

**Xtraitor:**** Ya, I should probably go back and correct that xD Thanks for telling me!**

**xXDangerousPieXx:**** Thanks dude XD glad you liked it :D**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Close Call to the Chest**

His eyes opened slowly to the world around him, steadily becoming aware of the unrecognizable features in his sight. Yet, he didn't panic, he didn't want to. That wouldn't solve anything; instead the young blond tested himself.

He wriggled his fingers and brushed against a soft, warm material. He was on a bed with a blanket over him, that much was clear. Ed slowly then turned his head to the right, only a few candles that were placed on a shelf were in that direction. He turned to his left, nothing but a peach painted wall. Ed then sighed and slowly began to recollect his thoughts; he remembered only pieces of what happened before he woke up so he added up what he found and like a puzzle, put the pieces back together.

He arrived at Central's borderline… his ship was attacked by Marines… he took out a few ships and then… and then… then he was shot. By a cannonball. Those Marines shot a fucking cannon at him, but how was he still alive? Ed groaned, the next parts were fuzzy, and his head was buzzing enough as it is. He – he was falling – no, _drowning_. He was loosing blood and drowning, and then he – he panicked. Above everything else he panicked, and then, and then…

Nothing. There was a gap in his memory. A black hole where his thoughts were suppose to be. No matter how hard he tried Ed couldn't remember what happened after that… but did that matter now? He was alive, that much he was grateful for. In a strange unknown place but alive. Ed grinned softly to himself and raised his hand to his forehead, placing it against his eyes. Then that's when he noticed it.

His hand. It was rough in texture and yet so cold, like hard wrinkled ice, not metal and cold like it should be. Gulping, Ed noticed why his hand had felt so weird. This was not his automail arm, instead he had a flesh arm – if he could call it that – but with sharpened nails at the end. In a few seconds, Edward understood why he had a gap in his memory. He had transformed and blacked out, that's why he couldn't remember anything.

_Damn it._ Ed thought, mentally cursing himself for allowing this. Great, he needed to get back to his ship and get Marcoh, he was the only one who could "reverse" this. Ed sighed just as he was pulling himself up off the bed, and Al would most likely be angry with him again, he never did like it when Ed –

Wait. Al… where was he? Ed blinked just as his eyes widened with horror. If he had fallen unconscious at the borderline, then what happened to his brother and his crew? The idea of them being captured crossed Ed's mind but he quickly erased that thought from his memory. No – they got away in time. They retreated, right? There's no way the Marines had caught them. There's no way his ship would be taken. There's no way his little brother would go down without a fight… right?

Like a light switch, Ed did the one thing he swore he was never going to do again.

He panicked.

…

"Roy, you know little kids usually bring home a stray dog or cat when they want to keep it." Hughes began while taking a sip of his coffee. "But _you_, you brought home a demon pirate who's trying to kill you." He looked up from his mug and stared at the raven-haired, hoping for any change in his expression but received nothing. With that, Maes sighed and chugged down the rest of his coffee. "I'm not feeding him."

Roy chuckled to himself and finally looked up at his friend. "Maes, I'm not a kid." Mrs. Hughes and Elicia had gone to bed some time ago, leaving the two men to themselves.

"And yet you act like one at times." Usually Hughes would go along with joking around but tonight he was serious. _Dead _serious. "Roy, do you realize how dangerous this is getting now?"

Mustang cringed. He walked over to the sofa and sat down, drinking his coffee at a slow rate. "We're not only putting our lives on the line now but my _family's _as well." Hughes continued, eyeing Roy directly so that he knew how serious he was being. Suddenly Maes sighed and held the empty mug in between his hands like it was his lifeline. "Roy, I just don't want them harmed or endangered by my actions. I need them safe."

This time Roy was the one to talk. "Hughes, we've gotten away with crossing the borders. We're literally walking among the military and Marines at the same time, and we've pulled off with causing no disturbances." With a boasting smile on his face, Roy laughed and said, "What could possibly go wrong?"

_Ding! _Maes and Roy flinched at the same time, hearing the doorbell ring somehow sent shivers down both of their spines. Who could be at the door at this time of the night? Maes looked back at Roy for a second then proceeded with putting on his disguise, which involved pulling his hair into a small ponytail, wearing dark shades, and a fake moustache. Mustang stood up and walked out of sight but not too far away to disable him from hearing who was at the door.

Taking in a breath, Maes coughed to clear out his throat, and opened the door with a curious look plastered on his face. "Hello?" He said in a rather foreign accent. He looked around when he saw no one in view but then he looked down and found a rather short, brown-haired woman with glasses, she was looking up at him with a scowl on her face.

Usually someone like her wouldn't cause Maes to worry but then he took in her full appearance and involuntarily shuddered. She was wearing a Marines uniform. What the hell could she want and who sent here?

"Sir, I've been receiving noise complaints from your neighbors and I'm here to investigate." Her voice was stiff and gapless. Well that answered Hughes's question.

With a shaky smile, Maes said, "Ah… but, you have warrant, yes?" His accent was failing, his whole demeanor was beginning to break with the nervousness this woman was bringing him. Mustang could hear everything and he mentally cursed himself. There was no fucking way they were going to be exposed this easily. Not this easy anyways.

"Yes. I have a warrant, sir." The woman showed him her warrant then put it away as quickly as she got it out, hardly giving Hughes a chance to look it over. "Now please excuse me, sir." She shoved her way past him and into his house.

Shit. Roy thought for a second then relaxed, there was really nothing pirate like in the house, save for him but he was still in his own disguise, so this woman is just wasting her time.

Then, like a stab to the back, a loud crashing sounded through the house and cut through Roy's heart. Oh god no, he thought with concern written all over his face. There was another crashing noise; this time sounding like a vase shattering, and it caught the attention of all three adults.

Mustang had completely forgotten about the kid. But he didn't think he would wake up so early, and at this _exact _time no less!

"What was that?" The woman asked, suspicion dripping from her voice like a deadly venom.

"That is just brother!" Hughes spoke up. "He is sick, you see, and he stay with me for while!"

"Is that so?" She arched an eyebrow. "Then you won't mind if I see this brother do you?"

Hughes's heart skipped a beat yet he found himself hesitantly nodding. The woman smirked and followed the noise to the end of a hallway where a single door was. Without hesitation, she twisted the doorknob and opened the door, peering inside then walking fully in. Maes followed at her heels, trying his best to hide the fear in his eyes then when he finally looked inside, all emotions left him.

In the room lighted by candles, Roy was in the bed coughing like crazy with blankets up to his nose to hide half of his face. He kept his eyes closed as a precaution.

The woman looked around saw shatters of sharp pieces of glass. "Well, it seems that everything is in order here." Her voice sounded dragged and lazy, not like how it was in the beginning. Roy slowly creaked open one of his eyes to get a better look at the woman but once he saw her, he nearly flipped his lid.

The pirate captain swiftly jumped out of bed, with his trademark scowl on his face and roughly grabbed the woman by her arm. She struggled under his grip, completely taken unaware by the sudden action, but Roy would not let go of her. Quickly, Mustang took hold of both of her wrists and pulled them behind her back, immobilizing her for a while.

"Ah! Brother! What you doing?" Maes asked in his fake accent. "This woman is Marine, she –"

"She's not a Marine." Roy blandly said but with an angry frown on his face. Mustang noted the confused expression on his friend's face then yanked the woman back, full exposing her entire body. She shrieked lowly then looked back and forth as if searching for some way out. "Look at her uniform," Roy said.

Groaning, Maes pinched the bridge in between his eyes and looked over her clothing. It didn't know what to find and he was too preoccupied with thinking about how they were going to get out of this. A full, silent minute passed by and then, like a jackhammer had struck his head, Maes had saw what Mustang was seeing.

"That uniform's fake." He said grimly.

"Well, its not exactly fake," Mustang sighed. "This type of uniform was used solely for communication exports back in the war. These brands aren't even made anymore, but that leaves one question left open…" Leaning his head forward, the raven-haired pirate looked into the woman's eyes and simply asked, "What gave you the idea of coming here in such a poor disguise?"

The woman shivered, those coal, dark eyes pierced right into her and nearly stopped her heart. She hadn't realized what a fine line she had crossed until right now. "I – I – I – I –" She kept stuttering, much to Roy's annoyance so he decided to go with an easier question. Lifting the woman's head so that she was staring completely at him, Roy held onto the base of her neck and started.

"What's your name?"

"Victorian."

"… You're lying." Roy said simply.

"N-N-No… I – my name is…"

"Not Victorian." With a smug smile pulling on his lips, Roy happily said, "You said that too fast, and your pulse went up when you said that name. Now tell me, I swear I wont do anything to harm you, just tell me your name."

"…" She remained quiet for a while but slowly, ever so slowly, her mouth opened, "S-S-Sheska…"

Roy smiled gently and let go of the woman, "See? That wasn't so –"

"Goddamn you!" Suddenly a loud voice interrupted his sentence. With a sigh, Mustang looked over at the bed and furrowed his brow. After being injured that badly, Fullmetal still has the strength to yell. "You fucking bastard! When I get my hands on you…" Mustang watched as the blonde haired captain slowly became known from the side of the bed. First his arm had shot up then his hand took hold of the bed, his claws digging into the fabric, another arm shot up and followed the first. Next his face was shown, his eyes narrowing dangerously with anger at the devil fruit user, his fangs gritted and his mind solely paying attention to him and him alone.

"What did you do to him?" Maes asked with concern in his voice.

"I melted him to the floor and sealed his lips." Upon looking back at his friend's horrified expression, Mustang quickly added, "Not his skin but a couple of blankets on top of him, it kept him silent and still for a while…"

Once Edward had broken from his bonds, he glared at the captain and prepared to attack him but was stopped when he heard a small shriek. Golden eyes turned to see a brown-haired woman shaking violently while pointing at him.

"W-W-WHAT IS THAT THING?" She covered her mouth to hold back a scream. "A monster… you took a monster into your house!" To everyone's surprise, the woman suddenly fainted with Roy catching her just at the last second. Roy sighed in relief, he was actually glad the woman was quiet now, yet he had another situation on his shoulders. What the hell was he suppose to do with her? Roy's mind worked faster than a computer, based on what she just screamed, she must've seen him take Ed into the Hughes's home. Yet why would she disguise herself as a Marine officer? Suspicion maybe? There's no way she figured out who he was because then she would've said something… or maybe she did know and just didn't say anything.

Taking in a breath, Roy's eyes caught a glimpse of the blonde pirate, he looked strangely dazed and deep in thought for some reason. Suddenly, with haste, Roy handed the unconscious woman to Hughes, pushing her into his arms like a Christmas present.

"Wait! What am I suppose to do with her?" Maes exclaimed, still panicking a bit.

"Lay her on the sofa until I think of a plan." Although, at the moment, plans were kind if slipping past Roy's fingers.

Sighing, Hughes reluctantly left the room and did so, leaving Edward and Mustang alone. Mustang turned to the blonde pirate and casually said, "You shouldn't be sitting up, your wounds will open again if you move too much."

"I'm fine." Scoffed Ed with a frown on his face. He began lifting himself off the bed but ended up falling on the floor. "Damn it…" He grunted, trying to pull himself up again. A pair of arms suddenly lifted him back up and onto the bed; Ed narrowed his eyes at the dark-haired captain then sighed in frustration.

"Just listen to me this one time," Roy began as he pulled up a seat and sat in front of the bed. "I know we've had our little differences –"

"You kidnapped my brother, almost sold him as a slave, and then tried to kill us both!" Snarled Edward.

"Yes, I know what I did to you and him but just set aside that frustration for right now because I don't think you realize how deep you are in the shark tank," Roy said, looking the older Elric dead in the eyes.

"What?" Ed barked.

"I mean, you're in way over your head," Roy put it bluntly but in his more serious tone of voice. "Your entire crew was captured and will be tried tomorrow for obvious piracy, and if the trial goes south then everyone of them, including your brother, will be sent to execution." Exhaling, Roy added, "The trial isn't fair when it comes to pirates so to put this simply," he rose his hand and pointed up three of his fingers, "In three days time, your entire crew will be hung by the gallows."

Ed's entire face paled even when it was an unnatural color of gray. Suddenly he thrust himself up and tried to get out of the bed but Roy quickly held him down. "Get off of me!" He cried, "I have to get them! I have to save them! Get the fuck off of _me!_" His claws slashed at Roy's face, leaving four precise bleeding cuts on his cheek.

"Calm down Edward!" Roy shouted, trying to get the pirate to lay still. "You're going to –"

Suddenly Ed stopped all together. He gasped and held his breath, eyes going wide at the sudden pain that struck his entire body. Unbeknown to him, he clenched tightly onto the captain's shoulder and started breathing in harsh, tough breaths. The agony struck hard and spread through his entire body, coursing through his bloodstream like a raging rhinoceros and tearing away at his muscles. Ed quickly held back a scream and groaned painfully, god it was terrible, the pain was etching into his skin like a tattoo, like it was ripping the flesh slowly from his bone. Roy cautiously laid the blonde pirate back on the bed and felt his forehead.

_He has a fever and a high one at that,_ Mustang diagnosed while pulling his hand away and walking over to the corner of the room. Roy grabbed a bucket full of fresh water and a towel and brought them to the side of the bed, he soaked the towel in the bucket then carefully placed it on Ed's forehead. Edward was twitching violently from the pain that was ransacking his body but he allowed the raven-haired captain to do what was needed.

"Ed, I need you to blink three times if you can hear me." Roy said.

Just as he said, Ed blinked three times and groaned, "I can hear you just fine dumbass."

Ignoring what the teen had just said, Roy began explaining what was on his mind, "Ed, I don't know if you know this yet but your injuries are far worse than what you expect. In your lower back side I found a rock jabbed in your skin, not to mention your bruises and broken rib bones, you must have collided into the coastline and washed up on shore because you can't just get injuries like this overnight. Nearly all of your bones are fractured, you have a high fever, and you were bleeding pretty badly when I – or you first saw me."

"Really? Huh, I feel like a can run a marathon right now." Ed scoffed in a sarcastic tone of voice. "Why did you help me?" Ed asked suddenly, looking away from the raven-haired man.

Mustang sighed and frowned deeply. "Technically it was Hughes's daughter who helped you – the girl you briefly met – if she hadn't had said anything to us you would be dead by now."

"…" Ed remained silent.

"I only carried you inside and tended to whatever injuries I could manage, but you should really be thanking Elicia for helping you."

"That's her name?"

"What?"

"Elicia, that's her name right?"

Roy nodded then silence followed after. Only the thunder clasp outside the window filled the silence between the two captains. Roy stared on at the pirate but made no move to try to talk with him.

"I need to save him." Ed said suddenly.

Blinking, the dark-haired pirate slowly put on a smug smile and said, "Be my guest, let the Marines kill you this time. Make sure to put in a good word from me." Laughing a bit, Roy observed Ed's face darkening with each word he had said. "Do you think I'm joking? Well I'm not, go ahead and get yourself killed this time because I guarantee you there wont be any miracles to save you."

"I don't need to hear this from you." Ed growled, slowly picking himself to a sitting position. "I don't even need to be here. And I especially don't need to listen to your hypocr –"

"Although, I'm willing to hear you out." Roy interrupted, leaning back in his chair with that same smug smile placed on his face.

"What?"

"I want to know your side of the story, if you know what I mean."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"What's the story between you and your brother?"

For a minute, silence took its place inside of the hollow room. Light raindrops pattered outside like bad music to their ears, and only the unbalanced atmosphere around them kept them awake. Only for a second did Roy consider leaving the blonde alone to recover in silence but he couldn't do that, at least, not now he couldn't. Because whatever Edward was going to say next determined the fate of not only him and his crew… but also Roy Mustang, himself.

The silence lasted for a good five minutes, never letting up until a lone, long breath flew past Ed's lips. He lowered his head then shook it lightly as if he was having an inner conflict with himself, another sigh left him and Ed looked directly at Roy, his golden eyes shimmering with resolve and dedication.

"All right," He solely said, never leaving Roy's gaze. "What do you want to know?"

Without hesitation, Roy said, "Everything."

…

**And that's a wrap! I stopped the chapter right here only because the next chapter will most likely be a full on flashback and putting it next to chapter just didn't seem right to me… or maybe it was just because I was lazy… nah, really though, until the next chapter! **

**Anyways, enough of my senseless ramblings! I have a VERY IMPORTANT note about this story and my current ones. Its come to my attention that I cannot update ALL of my stories without being insanely late (namely this one) so I decided to cut down on a few stories and focus more on the ones that I'd like to continue (namely this one :D you may applaud now), but I can't promise that the main focused stories will be updated whenever I have free time or make time. D: unfortunately I've been busy with driver's school and summer jobs to get time to myself, which brings me to another fact.**

**I am so, so sorry I haven't updated this story like in months… but I hope you all enjoyed this somewhat heartwarming chapter… well, I wouldn't call it heartwarming… but…**

**REVIEW TIME!**

**DeathBySugarCube:**** Glad to know bro :D and thanks.**

**Awesomenaruto:**** Thanks dude :3 parental Roy is my favorite thing to write about… right beside writing about an insane Edward, but that's another story xD and sorry about not updating D:**

**MiniSkirtRanger:**** Haven't they? It's somewhat annoying but who am I to talk xD but you're right, it's most likely because the series ended. And I know I'm a bit late about saying this but, sorry about your brain, and its fine :D your previous jokes still have me laughing xD no joke… and thanks once again for reviewing!**

**Xtraitor:**** Soft spot for kids, yet a hard spot for cats xD sorry, I just had to say that.**

**Annie-The-Awesome:**** LMFAO bro :D sorry it took so long to update D:**

**WAIT! Two questions…**

**What's kawaii?**

**Anyone else but me excited about the new spider-man movie? And also The Dark Knight Rises? **

**Okay, that's all! **

**Pirates Forever!**

_**Stay Awesome!**_


	18. Chapter 18

_**I'm baaaaaaaaaack :D hello amazing people of planet Earth! **_

_**FMA DOES NOT BELONG TO ME**_

_**Review please at the end :D I love hearing what you all like to say.**_

**Chapter 18: Hopekeeper and Starfleet**

He fought hard to hold back the screams. He tried with all his will to keep his mouth shut, but he was loosing the fight. Blood seeped from the corners of his mouth as Al produced another liter of his blood on the floor in front of him. He breathed harshly and gagged on his own voice.

He could hear screams. Some of pain and some of concern. Was he one of those? He couldn't tell, but by the gods he hoped he wasn't.

Everything was turning and twisting horribly in his line of vision. The world had turned into a madman's playground. He could hear the screaming again, this time clearer and more profound.

Slowly, the blonde lifted his head, clanking the chains that restrained his hands above his head, and looked straight ahead, past his own cell bars and into the ones across from him. Nearly lifeless in movement, his eyes scanned as far as they could until the nausea decided to kick in at the wrong point in time.

Once again, Al found himself looking at the gray ground that was now painted in a newly fresh red. Al coughed violently, shudders racking his body like the plague, and leaned his chin against his chest.

Gods... How did this all go so _wrong_?

"Al! Al!" Someone was screaming his name. He had to figure out who. Lifting his head halfway, Al stared into the sky blue eyes of the blonde whose cell was right across from his. _Winry…_ damn it, he cursed himself for having her see him like this, but most importantly, he hated seeing her in _these _conditions. She was screaming his name – that much he could understand – but what she was saying after became nothing more than a blur. Focusing hard enough, Al could vaguely see Winry's wrists restrained by rusted chains, her face was shadowed because of the little light that came into the dungeon, and her hair was out of its usual ponytail stature, only hanging limply off her shoulders.

Held against the wall in Winry's cell were Wrath, Russell, and Vale. All members of his brother's crew.

The world seemed to go in and out, right and left, up and down – twisting terribly and agonizingly around him. It took Al's entire willpower just to stay awake long enough to figure a way out of this. His hands were too far apart to perform alchemy, Al's swords were stripped off of him when those Marines imprisoned him, and the most notable detail was the fact that Al was too weak to even move a finger, let alone keep his head up.

"Enough with all ye screaming!" Shouted the dungeon guard.

Al winced, he licked the dried blood off his lips and cursed. He vaguely saw a burly, muscle bound shirtless man banging his swords against the bars of Winry's cell – wait… those swords looked like…

"Where's my brother," Russell angrily shouted back, wrenching at the chains around his wrist.

The dungeon guard laughed, a sick yellow-toothed smile spreading across his dirty face. "Ye brother? That youngster? He'll be gettn' what's coming to him," The dungeon guard rubbed his sturdy belly and laughed even harder upon seeing Russell's livid face. "Just like ye all be gettn'."

"Such bad speech for a man of the ranks." Vale hissed, narrowing her eyes between her long black hair.

The guard turned his attention to the piratress and licked his lips eagerly. "Ima be forgettn' that little comment if ya willn' to straightn' up ye act." Vale scoffed with disgust. "Or at least ye can loosn' me up…" The guard slid his tongue across his lips and eyed Vale all over just as she wrenched herself away from his gaze.

"Or maybe you blondie," The guard swooned. Al mentally cursed, he needed to speak; to use his voice, to get free, to do anything to get this filth away from his crewmates. "Ye hasn't said a word, only been screaming and moaning. Perhaps I can help ye –"

Al flinched as another wave of pain hit him, he forced down a scream and spat out the loose blood in his mouth. Unintentionally catching the guard's attention, Al opened his mouth to speak but found his throat too constricted to get the words out.

"Aww a sick one," the guard snickered. "Ye a poor bastard aint ya? Wallowing in ye own filth, no decency, nothing to gain… ye as pathetic as gumber's –"

"Those… swords…" Al wheezed forcing down the pain in his throat.

The guard eyed the swords in his hands. "What abouts them?"

"They… belong… to me…" Al clenched his teeth. "Those are… mine."

The guard heartedly laughed. "Oh… ye wants these swords? The craftsmanship is these here swords are unbelievably inhuman…" The guard observed the swords closer, looking at the hilt first. Engraved into the hilt were vines and a sun with crevices in it, shining and seemingly overwhelming the detailed green vines. On the twin sword was a full, silver moon with an ocean circling around it. The edges of both swords were smoothly done, the fuller completely straight and neat, and the tip was at its sharpest, giving the twin swords a glow of magnificent accomplishment.

The guard chuckled. The swords even looked new, as if they were made just yesterday.

"Ai, these swords are amazing. I think I be keepn' them." Al narrowed his eyes, his blood boiling with near peak anger. "Tis not like ye will be needn' them anymore…"

"By tomorrow, ye all be hangn' by the gallows."

Wrath's eyes widened. "No! No! Shut up! You're lying!"

"The crows will come to pick at ye flesh," Grinned the burley man. "And there aint nothn' ye –"

The dungeon door opened and passing through was a younger man in a neatly dressed soldier uniform with a younger, bareback blond boy by his side. The soldier opened Al's cell and pushed the young blond in. Fletcher stumbled and whimpered, the cold ground hitting him hard as the pain coursing through his back exploded through his body.

"Fletcher!" Russell screamed, eyeing his brother's scarred and bleeding back. The blond turned to the guards and glared at them, naked hatred beaming from his blue eyes. "You bastards! He's only a child!"

Fletcher moaned and fought to hold back tears as his cheeks burned red.

"You should've taken me!" Russell hollered, teeth clenched tightly.

The soldier ignored him and looked at the blond boy, his eyes luring over to a wheezing Al.

"He's next."

The guard smirked. "Ai." Glancing over at Fletcher's shivering body, Al quickly shrugged his coat off half of his body and said softly, "Put pressure on the wound, Fletcher. It'll stop the bleeding." The burly roughly grabbed Al's shoulder and unlocked his chains, shoving the brunette so hard that his coat dropped to the ground inside the cell right next to Fletcher.

"He's all yours Colonel." The burly man snickered. "Giv him what he deserves." The soldier didn't respond but instead grabbed Al by his wrist where raw skin was peeled off and tightened his grip on the teenage pirate.

Al hissed and narrowed his eyes. He glared at the dungeon master and growled, "Those swords are mine, and when I get them back I'm going to gut you like a _pig._"

"Oooo I'm terrified!" Laughed the guard as he spat on the words and rubbed them against his muddled pants. Al snarled as the man added fuel to the fire. How dare he touch _his _swords… no one except Al himself was allowed to touch them. Those swords were made especially for him and only him, and for them to be defiled by such a lowlife scum is… Al seethed but calmed himself as he felt another rush of pain ache in his chest.

The teen pirate hissed and caught a glance of Winry and Wrath, the only ones who weren't looking at Fletcher. Al burrowed his brow and flashed the best smile he could manage at them. It was small but all he could manage at the moment. No sooner did the smile appear was Al forced out of the dungeon, suddenly walking through a dark corridor with glowing orange candlelights.

For a second, Al thought about attacking the single soldier. It would be simple, all he needed to do was get behind him and cut off his air supply, knocking him out long enough for Al to get back to the dungeon and rescue his crewmates. Al considered this carefully but, out of all times, he was really too weak at the moment to do anything but walk and talk. His strength was returning but slowly – too slowly – for Al to attack the dungeon guard. Then there was the matter of the ship Ed's ship – the vessel he had been traveling more than two years on – was gone.

Al had seen the mast fall into the ocean, every board of wood fall to pieces under the pressure of canon balls, and soon, even the ship itself sank to the bottom of the sea. Dying slowly and painfully, the ship was swallowed by the blue waves.

The brunette swallowed the dry blood in his mouth and closed his eyes.

"Get in."

The world was dark and cold just like those words. Al opened and gazed upon a lit up room with a stone, metal bed covered in chains, a furnace in the corner and in the other corner stood a muscleman wearing a black head covering that only showed his bright green eyes. But perhaps, Al didn't care much for those things. No – his eyes were more transfixed on the table of tools that contained an axe, knife, branding tool, and many objects Al had never seen before that lay next to the bed.

As soon as he looked at the tools, he thought back to Winry, Wrath, Russell, Vale, and Fletcher. Just before he left, Al saw Fletcher curl into his coat and thought of something new… where was the rest of the crew?

And… Al hitched a breath. How could he just remember this? How could he – no… was he… shit! Al cursed aloud and shuffled… the last thing he remembered… out of everything that has happened, was his brother's limp body falling into the ocean.

**Bad? Yes… I know and I'm sorry. I'm trying to get back into writing but everything in life I bombarding me against a wall… This chapter wasn't too detailed in the main plot but it's working towards the next chapter and… :D okay no explanation I enjoyed writing this, even though the end is bothering me, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it :D until next time bros and bras out there!**

**Review Time!**

**Awesomenaruto:**** So that's what kawaii means… that explains a lot XD like how people keep saying that Len Kagamine is kawaii.**

**Pirates life for me:**** Don't worry. The updates may be slow but I'm not giving up on this story :D thank you.**

**Mysterious blue jay:**** You can't see but I'm blushing with embarrassment/joy when I read your review :D thank you so much! And besides, the only demon that should be indestructible should be… Sebastian Michaelis!**

**RandomGuest:**** Thank you so much for your words of kindness. Its nice to see people like you actually give them the time in your life :) Thank you so much.**

**Shizaki Kuro:**** An ignorant cowardly motherfucking son of a bitch, that's who. Thanks for your prayers :D have a blessed day.**

_**Pirates Forever**_

_**Thank you all who prayed for the victims in the shooting. May your days be forever wonderful.**_


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